Still trying to grasp the idea of archiving messages from E2E encrypted communication system into a storage that entirely breaks the purpose of using something like Signal.
It’s like encashing on the trust of Signal protocol, app while breaking its security model so that someone else can search through all messages.
OK, say you're a bank. The SEC states you need to keep archives of every discussion your traders have with anyone at any time (I'm simplifying things but you get the point). You keep getting massive fines because traders were whatsapping about deals
So now you've got several options - you can use MS Teams, which of course offers archival, compliance monitoring etc. But that means trusting MSFT, and making sure your traders only use Teams and nothing else. You can use a dedicated application for the financial industry, like Symphony or ICE Chat or Bloomberg, but they're clunkier than B2C apps.
And then the Smarsh (owners of Telemessage) salesman calls you, and says "your users can keep using the apps they love - WhatsApp, Signal - but we make it compliant". And everyone loves it (as long as no-one in your Security or Legal teams are looking too hard at the implications of distributing a cracked version of WhatsApp through your MDM...)
It definitely doesn't resolve the trust issue! I would trust MSFT a million times more than these cowboys. What it does give you is peace with your traders (who can be real divas..) - they can keep using "WhatsApp" and "Signal" and you can monitor everything
You can never control what I do on my device with the message received- I can make screenshots, or, if the app prevents that, take a picture of the screen.
The goal of signal is trusted end-to-end encrypted communication. Device/Message security on either end is not in scope for Signals threat model.
Any client-side limitations are not part of the security model because you don't control other people's devices. Even with an unmodified app, they're trivially bypassed using a rooted/jailbroken device.
There are compliance reasons where you want the communications encrypted in flight, but need them retained at rest for compliance reasons. Federal record keeping laws would otherwise prohibit the use of a service like Signal. I'm honestly impressed that the people involved actually took the extra effort for compliance when nothing else they did was above board...
Makes sense. But still debatable if the compliance requirements are acting against the security model or perhaps there are biggest concerns here than just secure communication.
It’s like encashing on the trust of Signal protocol, app while breaking its security model so that someone else can search through all messages.
What am I missing here?