The Nothing Chat chat app is closed: it is said to be "unencrypted" and has been removed from Google Play.
CTOnews.com, Nov. 21 (Xinhua)-- Nothing announced an Android app called "Nothing Chat" on November 15, claiming that users can use it to chat with Apple iMessage users.
However, on November 19, the app was removed from the shelves because of "privacy issues." now Nothing has shut down Nothing Chat and users can no longer use the app.
CTOnews.com previously reported that Nothing partnered with Sunbird to develop Nothing Chat, which claims that users can transmit iMessage messages as long as they log in using their own Apple ID. At that time, Nothing and Sunbird claimed that the application had "end-to-end encryption", but this was not the case.
A previous article on the Texts.com blog attracted a lot of attention when it showed that messages sent using the Sunbird system were not actually encrypted end-to-end and were easy to crack.
But Sunbird denied the security issues, insisting that its services were "strictly secure".
However, foreign media have found that Sunbird is actually lying, and all documents sent through Nothing Chat and Sunbird (images, video, audio, PDF, vCard, etc.) are public. At present, security experts have found that there are 630000 "public" media files and more than 2300 "public" user information in the Sunbird system.
In addition, the Sunbird system actually records and stores users' iMessage messages in plain text in the error reporting software Sentry, and authentication tokens are sent through unencrypted HTTP, so it can be said that the application is "completely open" to hackers.
After that, Text.com released a proof-of-concept App, claiming that so-called "end-to-end encryption" messages can be obtained from Sunbird's server. CTOnews.com friends can find it here: click here to visit.
Batuhan I ö z, a product engineer at Text.com, has also released a tool that removes users' iMessage data directly from Sunbird's server and advises any Sunbird / Nothing Chat user to change their Apple ID immediately and "assume that their data has been compromised".
Related reading: "Nothing Chat chat app announces that Android phones can chat with Apple iMessage users."
"Nothing Chat chat app has been removed from Google Play due to privacy concerns."
