Scanning TLS Server Configurations with Burp Suite

In this post, we present our new Burp Suite extension "TLS-Attacker".
Using this extension penetration testers and security researchers can assess the security of TLS server configurations directly from within Burp Suite.
The extension is based on the TLS-Attacker framework and the TLS-Scanner, both of which are developed by the Chair for Network and Data Security.

You can find the latest release of our extension at: https://github.com/RUB-NDS/TLS-Attacker-BurpExtension/releases

Why Receipt Notifications increase Security in Signal

This blog post is aimed to express and explain my surprise about Signal being more secure than I thought (due to receipt acknowledgments). I hope you find it interesting, too.

Signal, and especially its state update protocol, the Double Ratchet algorithm, are widely known for significantly increasing security for instant messaging. While most users first see the end-to-end security induced by employing Signal in messaging apps, the properties achieved due to ratcheting go far beyond protecting communication against (active) attackers on the wire. Due to updating the local device secrets via the Double Ratchet algorithm, the protocol ensures that attackers, who temporarily obtain a device's local storage (on which Signal runs), only compromise confidentiality of parts of the communications with this device. Thus, the leakage of local secrets from a device only affects security of a short frame of communication. The exact duration of compromise depends on the messaging pattern among the communicating parties (i.e., who sends and receives when), as the state update is conducted during the sending and receiving of payload messages.