this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2026
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Secret documents show German police don't need to break the encryption of chat apps, they have been systematically adding their own device to the messenger accounts of people under investigation. (netzpolitik.org)
submitted 17 hours ago by beep@piefed.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1397415/secret-documents-show-german-police-don-t-need-to-break-the-encryption-of-chat-apps-they

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[โ€“] x00z@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Who says a random QR though? Intercept mail and replace legit QR codes with the malicious ones. It's a common tactic for criminals to put them on payment gateways such as parking meters. And cops are criminals anyway.

[โ€“] PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago

At least for WhatsApp and Signal, it appears the user is required to open the messenger app, navigate to the linking setting, authenticate themselves, and scan the QR code on the device that is to be linked (or one that corresponds to it, but hiding in a malicious e-mail). I can't find any flow that allows for a QR code to link directly to the authentication mechanism, and provide the authentication code to it, while bypassing user authentication.