Israeli company Cellebrite , which specializes in hacking smartphones, said that it can now extract user messages in the Signal messenger, which is considered one of the most secure messaging services.
Cellebrite offers its technology to hack mobile devices to law enforcement agencies when the latter need to get to the evidence stored on the devices of criminals.
The Israeli company also has critics. Typically, they complain that Cellebrite is providing tools to hack into the authorities of countries in which the rights of people are infringed (Belarus, Venezuela, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia).
However, Cellebrite responds to individual messages and takes appropriate action. You can recall how information appeared on the Internet that the Chinese authorities were using Cellebrite’s developments to spy on activists in Hong Kong. Then the representatives of the Israeli company said that the Chinese law enforcement agencies will no longer receive hacking tools.
One of Cellebrite’s key products is the UFED (Universal Forensic Extraction Device) system, which allows authorities to unlock and extract data from any mobile device, as well as the Physical Analyzer, which then helps to process the information received.
Cellebrite recently announced that Physical Analyzer now has new features that allow you to access supposedly protected user communications in the Signal messenger.
Recall that the above application uses a special encryption system called the Signal Protocol. Its main task is to maximally protect user messages and create a barrier for prying eyes.
“Law enforcement agencies have noted the growing popularity of applications like Signal among cybercriminals, as such messengers are able to protect correspondence from the eyes of the police,” says the Cellebrite blog .