Signal Funding & Kit Klarenberg
Exec summary: ignore this wanker.
An associate sent me a link to this breathless article by Kit Klarenberg, which I am going to “defang” in the spirit of Stop Ingesting Crap. This is part of a reputation attack that I first noticed when I wrote Relay Your Signal Calls.
https://kitklarenberg.substack[.]com/p/signal-facing-collapse-after-cia
Before you look at the vaguely “truthy” statements in that article, which I did not actually read, because I know I must Stop Ingesting Crap, look at where this wanker has bylines.
The Grayzone is discredited.
The Grayzone is an American fringe,[7] far-left[19] news website and blog,[23] founded and edited by American journalist Max Blumenthal.[20]
The website, initially founded as The Grayzone Project,[24] was affiliated with AlterNet before becoming independent in early 2018.[4] It is known for its critical coverage of the US and its foreign policy,[1] misleading reporting,[25][26] and sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes.[4][21][27][28] The Grayzone has downplayed or denied the Chinese government's human rights abuses against Uyghurs,[32] published conspiracy theories about Venezuela, Xinjiang, Syria, and other regions,[33][34] and published pro-Russian propaganda during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[31]
Grayzone writers such as Blumenthal and Aaron Maté acted as briefers on behalf of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations at UN meetings organised by Russia.[35][36][37][38]
Mint Press is discredited.
MintPress News (MPN) is an American far-left[1] news website founded and edited by Mnar Adley (née Muhawesh) which was launched in January 2012[2] and also publishes the MintCast podcast. It covers political, economic, foreign affairs and environmental issues. Editorially, MintPress News supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and the governments of Russia, Iran, and Syria.[3][4] It opposes the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia,[5] and reports geopolitical events from an anti-Western perspective.[6] In one contentious article, MintPress News falsely asserted that the Ghouta chemical attack in Syria was perpetrated by rebel groups rather than by the Syrian government.[4]
Described as a conspiratorial website,[7][8] MintPress News publishes disinformation and antisemitic conspiracy theories, according to researchers at Rutgers University and others.[9][10] MintPress News was a major media domain that spread disinformation about the White Helmets, a Syrian volunteer organization.[11] The site has been accused of regularly publishing pro-Russian propaganda.[10]
The source of MintPress News's funding remains unknown.[4] MintPress News is headquartered in Minnesota, United States.[citation needed]
Motivation:
Someone, somewhere, out there, is having the devil of a time dealing with folks who are using Signal, and probably worse those people have wised up and started automatic deletion of chats after a period of time. Deleting your chats manually after someone gets raided is obstruction of justice. Using a feature built into the system is not. Have a look at the folks involved in January 6th and the misery they face due to this gap in their tradecraft.
This sort of reputation attack on methods & systems happens on the front lines quite often - I started moving away from Wire as a communication tool because their free calling had badly degraded. They still have a security benefit in that you need not give up a phone number to use it. But my world had changed to the point where I have a LOT less interaction with people whose names I don’t know. The fact that the company once used an Israeli anti-DDoS service played no part in this decision.
So as of today, Signal is still golden, so long as you obtain a Google Voice number to front end it. Having actual cell numbers known is a BIG attack surface - you can be geolocated without a warrant, and SIM swap gangs steal crypto and otherwise engage in all sorts of financial crimes by taking over postpaid cellular accounts.
Conclusion:
This is a weird little malign influence op against a comms method, something the hacker realm deals with periodically. It’s only notable in that it’s broke out of the world of people who hold forceful, angry opinions about post-quantum public key exchange methods and into sight of the masses.
If this does turn out to be the beginning of serious trouble for Signal I WILL notice and I WILL publish on the topic and I WILL recommend alternatives and I WILL ride your behinds until you get back under cover.