2023-11-30 19:16:36
No more WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal for members of the government. From December 8, ministers, secretaries of state, directors and members of cabinets will no longer have to use these messaging applications on their mobile phones or computers.
A circular published on November 22 and signed by Élisabeth Borne sets the objective of strengthening the security of exchanges between members of the government. The Prime Minister invites them to download Olvid, a messaging application that allows secure exchanges.
She is French, certified by the@ANSSI_FRencrypted, does not collect any personal data.
We have been using it with my team since July 2022.
In December the entire Government will use @olvid_iothe most secure instant messaging in the world.
— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) November 29, 2023
This 100% French application was designed by cryptography researchers and exposes its users less than the American and Russian applications WhatsApp and Telegram.
“Other messaging services go through a centralized contact directory that is vulnerable to interception,” explains Thomas Baignères, co-founder of Olvid. Unlike other solutions on the market, its application, downloads of which have increased tenfold since Élisabeth Borne’s announcement, does not store data on servers. The link between the interlocutors is direct, when its most popular competitors go through a trusted third party.
An application that guarantees anonymity
To use Olvid, simply enter a first and last name, which the application does not check. This application therefore guarantees the anonymity of the interlocutors. “No third party can identify the participants, not even the server,” says the start-up created in 2018 on its site Web.
Instant messaging does not suggest contacts to add because it does not have access to the phone number or address book. The user must therefore send an invitation to each person they wish to add and verify their authenticity to get in touch with them. This verification is carried out using a QR Code or a PIN code composed of four digits directly generated in the application.
“The advantage of a code or scanning a QR Code is to offer a cryptographic way of having the guarantee of knowing who we are talking to, without going through an intermediary,” explains Thomas Baignères.
Secure audio calls
Available on iPhone and Android, Olvid allows you to exchange messages for free, create group discussions and share images or files. While creating a protective bubble. “As the barrier between professional and personal lives does not exist in digital technology and ministers juggle between two devices, we need data exchange tools that avoid any risk of exfiltration or inadvertent importation of software malicious,” underlines Ivan Rogisssart, cybersecurity expert at Zscaler France.
The application also allows you to make secure audio calls, but this option is paid via a subscription of up to 10 euros per month, with a decreasing price.
Unlike WhatsApp, there is no need to create an account on Olvid. Once the app is deleted from the phone, no trace remains. If the phone is lost or stolen, “it is possible to remotely remove access and revoke the encryption key,” concludes Thomas Baignères.
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