French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne last week backed French messaging app Olvid and urged all government employees to uninstall foreign communication apps such as Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram by December 8, 2023. I signed the circular asking for it.
The guidelines, addressed to ministers, secretaries of state, chiefs of staff and ministers, suggest they instead install and use the Olvid app, developed by a French company.
BleepingComputer discussed this development with French journalists and revealed that this does not ban the use of foreign messaging apps, but rather encourages switching to domestically developed software.
Olvid supports end-to-end encrypted messages, uses decentralized infrastructure, and does not require a phone number or other personal data for registration. Therefore, it is considered a more reliable option that has all the main features of its more famous and widely used competitors.
“Major instant messaging applications for consumers occupy an increasing position in everyday communication. However, these digital tools are not without security vulnerabilities, and the information shared through them The security of conversations and information cannot be guaranteed,” the Prime Minister’s speech said. Le Point published an excerpt.
“To counter the threats arising from the use of these applications, the French company Olvid has developed a decentralized directory and end-to-end message encryption to protect users’ data while maintaining the same functionality as their current applications. We’ve developed instant messaging that guarantees…
Signal president Meredith Whitaker took to Twitter to dispute vague claims about the app’s security vulnerabilities, labeling them as unsubstantiated and misleading.
Comparing the security of Olvid with other messaging apps can become moot due to Olvid’s unique feature of having a “first-level security certification” from ANSII (French National Cyber Security Agency) .
This certification includes a thorough examination of the app’s source code by state experts, and none of the other mainstream apps mentioned in this post have gone through a rigorous evaluation process.
This alone puts Olvid’s security credentials above common industry benchmarks, effectively making it a sound choice for use at the highest levels of the French government.
In addition to ANSII approval, Olvid has independently validated its custom cryptographic protocol design by cryptography professor Michel Abdalla.
Finally, while Olvid’s symmetric cryptography is already quantum-resistant, the project is ready to implement similar strength in public-key cryptography once NIST’s public-key algorithm selection process is complete. I guarantee it.
The exact reasons behind the decision to suggest the use of Orvid within the French government remain unclear, and as a French journalist Emil Marsolf Speaking to BleepingComputer, not everyone agreed with the Prime Minister’s instructions.
Marzolf revealed that in conversations with France’s digital sector, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the directive and said that Olvid’s promotion was excessive, but that Signal was an acceptable platform for them. I made it.
Prior to this, in March 2023, the French government followed the example of many other Western countries. Ban the use of the TikTok app There were problems with state authorities’ terminals due to fears of espionage.