Telegram, TikTok & Zoom
Hostile services people can't quit.
Telegram was founded in Russia and despite their relocation they are still an asset for Russian intel.
TikTok is a Chinese service that siphons information about western society including using the audio for training AI.
Zoom is a Chinese service that siphons information about western society including both audio AND the factual information in the calls.
Attention Conservation Notice:
Sorry if you’ve already heard this AND heeded, but we have to stay on this until it’s resolved. So you’ll need to help the others.
Obvious Hazards:
This is from Battlefield Cyber, which I heard of thanks to an associate who sent me this Asia Times article.
When the service is free, your behavior with it and the information flowing through it is the product.
Remediation:
I don’t encounter TikTok all that often, since I’m an old person, and just an observer at the level where people wield influence with it.
When I decided to do something about the Russian invasion I followed SOP. A new burner phone made a Google Voice, Authy was bound to it, and then all the other things were acquired. Telegram is not something I typically use, but it’s required in that environment. After I created the account I quickly migrated it to a retired phone, then the burner got a factory reset.
I do NOT trust Telegram. At all. It’s on a phone that’s only powered on when I need it. It’s in a VM with a fail closed configuration. And as of yesterday, it’s running in a Qubes VM, too. I’m fine with Russians and their supporters using it, makes them easier to observe. But Ukrainians? Start with gentle persuasion, and escalating to mockery if they don’t get it. I find this lack of situational awareness maddening.
But not as maddening as civil society NGOs using Zoom … to coordinate efforts against Chinese fuckery. No, really, like 1970s mafia who don’t understand that THEY could be wire tapped. Trying Signal conference for groups, dragging them into using Jitsi, but 72 hours later … email with a Zoom invite.
Conclusion:
This is one of those things that keeps me up at night. Looking over my shoulder is ingrained after so many years of conflict. If I read about something that MIGHT be a hazard I’m on it immediately. There are some risks I accept … most notably, that I describe OPSEC tactics, techniques, and procedures here for you guys.
Global conflict is serious and it is increasing:
Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hamas invasion of Israel.
Potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Potential Colombian invasion of Guyana.
We watched ISIS brew up, expand everywhere, and as they did the leadership got picked off, except the ones who got lucky, and that luck was correlated with avoiding communications that could be tracked. We aren’t going to catch signature strikes the way they did, but all the other things will happen.
No, they’re already happening, and that’s part of the tension you feel.
I guess after all these years I can sit tight a little long … the survivors will be more willing to heed the warnings.