Networks Telegram founder accuses Meta of sabotaging access in India with BGP hijacks Allegations of fake routes are fake news, says Indian telco Jio
PUBLIC SECTOR India blocks Telegram ahead of scandal-hit medical school entrance exam 2.3 million people sit test chasing 100,000 places, and country already canceled it once this year
PaaS + IaaS Yahoo! Japan’s owner consolidating 164 OpenStack clusters into one Customizations are causing pain so new cloud will stick to upstream cuts of the open source stack
Security AI agents spill secrets just by previewing malicious links Zero-click prompt injection can leak data when AI agents meet messaging apps, researchers warn
Networks Matrix is quietly becoming the chat layer for governments chasing digital sovereignty One-to-one and group messaging, encrypted VoIP calls, video conferencing – the open protocol handles them all
Public Sector France jacks into the Matrix for state messaging – and pays too Governments eye comms alternatives as sovereignty worries mount
Security Thieves steal IDs and payment info after data leaks from Discord support vendor Outsourcing your helpdesk always seems like a good idea – until someone else's breach becomes your problem
Storage Matrix.org homeserver grinds to a halt after RAID meltdown Engineers wrangle 55 TB restore and traffic replay as millions of messages queue up
Security Signal shuts the blinds on Microsoft Recall with the power of DRM Chat app blocks Windows' screenshot-happy feature from peeking at private convos
Bootnotes 100-plus spies fired after NSA internal chat board used for kinky sex talk National intel boss slams naughty nattering on work systems as 'egregious violation of trust'
Security It's not just Big Tech: The UK's Online Safety Act applies across the board That niche forum running for 20 years – get ready, there's work to do
Security China's top messaging app WeChat banned from Hong Kong government computers Google and WhatsApp also binned, which is far easier to explain than canning a local hero
Personal Tech Telegram will now hand over IP addresses, phone numbers of suspects to cops Maybe a spell in a French cell changed Durov's mind
Applications Disney kicks Slack to the curb, looks to Microsoft Teams for a happily ever after Definitely not punishment for someone leaking internal data
Security Telegram CEO was 'too free' on content moderation, says Russian minister CEO Pavel Durov charged in France, messaging platform insists it abides by EU laws
Personal Tech Telegram founder and CEO arrested in France Rumors swirl that lack of content moderation has angered authorities
Applications Desperately seeking ICQ? It may shut down, but Nina could resurrect it Multiple folks are working on FOSS servers for classic messaging apps
Personal Tech EU probes Telegram, because size matters for regulators Russian info slinger could be on the hook for posting disinformation
Personal Tech Venerable ICQ messaging service to end operations in June Suggested heir is Putin-approved and hard to download outside Russia
Applications Telegram CEO calls out rival Signal, claiming it has ties to US government Drama between two of the leading secure messaging services
Networks Telegram eyes IPO as user numbers close in on 1 billion Chat app chaps may even turn a profit this year
Security Twitter adds new DM features, and Musk claims encryption is here, starting today We'll believe our DMs are secure when someone provides proof, thanks
Security German Digital Affairs Committee hearing heaps scorn on Chat Control Proposal to break encryption to scan messages for abuse material challenged as illegal and unworkable
Personal Tech Patients wrongly told they've got cancer in SMS snafu We wish you a very merry chemo and a happy new year
Software DoJ worries messaging apps could hide evidence of crime, corruption Record keeping rules might need a tweak to ensure content is preserved
Off-Prem What's up with WhatsApp? Messaging platform suffers outage in the UK Massive spike in user reports on DownDetector, no word on cause
Security Financial watchdogs want to know what traders are talking about on WhatsApp Keen interest in messaging platform follows $2 billion fines in US
Systems Discord details how it dodged latency with a super-disk made in the cloud For when a GCP Local SSD is just not quite reliable enough
Software Google tells Apple to 'fix text messaging' in bid to promote RCS protocol iMessage talks to Android users via outdated SMS/MMS, ad giant complains
Offbeat You'll soon be able to ghost a WhatsApp group without making everyone hate you Well, until they find out that you've left, but at least they won't be immediately notified of your every move
Security Slack leaked hashed passwords from its servers for years Users who created shared invitation links for their workspace had login details slip out among encrypted traffic
Security How cybercrims embrace messaging apps to spread malware, communicate Underground forums are so last year. Telegram, Discord offer better privacy, functionality to criminals, says Intel 471
SaaS Slack to increase prices for Pro customers Freebie users to get 90 days of message history and file storage
Networks 60 million in the Matrix as users seek decentralized messaging Slacked off and fed up with Teams? Want to escape the clutches of big tech? Element thinks so
Personal Tech That emoji may not mean what you think it means Sometimes an eggplant really is just an eggplant
Applications Thunderbird 102 gets a major facelift, Matrix chat support Mozilla's messaging client appears to have benefited from sponsor shakeup
Personal Tech Hangouts hangs up: Google chat app shuts this year How many messaging services does this web giant need? It's gotta be over 9,000
Applications Telegram adds paid tier as it cracks 700 million users Without so much as a mention of encryption, but with a pastel-hued emoji-heavy nod to ‘sustainable monetization’
Personal Tech Telegram criticizes Apple for 'intentionally crippling' web app features on iOS Native code or nothing thanks to Safari's approach to web apps
Applications Meta to squeeze money from WhatsApp with Cloud API for businesses How to make a free messaging platform bought for $22 billion profitable
Security Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike resigns, leaves WhatsApp co-founder to run things until a successor is named Departure comes as app courts controversy by integrating private cryptocurrency scheme
Bootnotes A proposal to beat below-the-belt selfies: Crowdsourced machine learning using victims' image stashes Empty your inboxes, people, we can duck this problem together
Security Japan draws a LINE: web giants must reveal where they store user data Looks a lot like a response to messaging services passing data through China
Security Oz Feds reveal distribution model behind backdoored 'An0m' chat app spread by crims Resellers were given exclusive territories to target, and offered tech support
Legal Indian government committee slams 'gross misuse' of internet shutdowns – even in Kashmir Officials use them for mundane matters, not big emergencies as laws intend
Security WhatsApp's got your back(ups) with encryption for stored messages Global messaging giant extends security and privacy to Google Drive and Apple iCloud
Software IBM email fiasco complicates sales deals, is worse than biz is letting on – sources Unreliable messaging interferes with contract completion, we're told, as Slack channels flooded with memes
Security Signal goes Gaussian to take privacy to the next level: All your faces don't belong to us Blur tool brings privacy protection to images, in these troubled times
Software Kiss my ASCII, Microsoft – we've got one million fewer daily active users than you, boasts Slack Redmond's bundled group chat app draws fire from Slackville
Security Wickr gets slicker with fresh network tricker: Privacy-protecting domain fronting alternative emerges Secure messaging maker courts biz comms gigs with Psiphon's help
Legal France building encrypted messaging app for politicians Yes, this is the same France that wants not-backdoors for the rest of us
Legal Russian regulator asks courts to disconnect Telegram It’ll be do svidaniya to secure messaging app if Roskomnadzor succeeds
On-Prem What took you so long, BlackBerry? Facebook BBM suit is way overdue Legal eagles knock heads for IP battle
Software Slack apologises to Europe for TITSUP* services Productivity melts, economy dives... actually, neither is true
Devops Keybase Git gets keys, basically: Secure chat app encrypts your repos Security blanket for the paranoid among us (OK, all of us reading this)
Software Microsoft boasted it had rebuilt Skype 'from the ground up'. Instead, it should have buried it Users slam attempt to infuse app with social media magic
Security Telegram chat app founder claims Feds offered backdoor bribe Pavel Durov flings Twitter dooky at rivals Signal, says US govt funds their encryption
AI + ML Please don't call them Facebook chatbots, says Facebook's bot boss That whole conversation-as-a-UI thing was just a big misunderstanding
Security Messaging app used by Trump aides 'riddled with security bugs' Devs patch after researchers Confide in them about encrypted app's issues
Security Sneaky chat app Signal deploys decoy domains to deny despots Reasonably secure messenger has, for now, outwitted those who would block it
Science The Rosetta Stone of chatbot APIs: Upstart touts software bridge If you want to build code for lots of platforms, don't shoot the Message.io
On-Prem Chat app Telegram's meltdown today was literal – its data center cooling failed Messaging conked out in North and Latin America
AI + ML Google's Allo chat app hits a downside to AI: Bot must hoard private messages to train itself Stay in incognito mode to get secure texting
Security Oh snap! Facebook zaps crap yap gap in web chat, natter app flap Bug would have allowed miscreants to rewrite messages
Legal Twitter expands beyond 140 characters Photos and @username references won't be part of sending limit
SaaS Keep snapping selfies, says Snapchat: Cops NEVER ask us for 'em Self-destructing pic app reports pittance of gov't requests
SaaS When will ROBOTS start chatting on WhatsApp? Don't hold your breath, says co-founder Gab service has 'no plans' for developer APIs
Networks Twitter hints at messaging moves WhatsApp with this plan? Facebook's $19b cash dangle, perhaps?
Software Slingshot: Facebook unwraps chat app to splat Snapchat brats Self-destructing me-too natterware reconstructs self
Software Play.com tech titan snaps up 'VoIP-tastic WhatsApp' firm Viber Rakuten acquires app for $900m in cold hard cash
Software Undeterred by Snapchat's snafus, upstart Confide punts self-destruct selfies Burn after reading, or get burnt when someone douses the fuse
Networks Facebook bots grope our 'privates', and every wronged user should get $10,000 – lawsuit claims Allegations over message scanning 'without merit'
Software Self-destructing selfies? Not so fast! Snapchat now offers one-time Replay 'Sorry, I couldn't see – er – HEAR you the first time'
Software Facebook-owned Instagram morphs into messaging service to please admen Direct to your faces ... bitch
Channel BlackBerry in talks to spin off Messenger division New BBM subsidiary would have greater independence
Software Facebook takes aim at SMS with new Messenger app Mobile-to-mobile chat, no Facebook account required
Software New AOL IM considered harmful by privacy warriors EFF baulks at centralised chat logging by default
HPC Tervela bags $18m for go faster messaging appliances HPC on Wall Street My latency is lower than yours
