Chapter 2334 Technical gimmick

Zhou Buqi said in a deep voice: "We can't do this end-to-end encryption technology?"

Shen Xiangyang said with a smile: "It's not a big deal if you can't do it. If you really want to work hard, you can definitely do it, and it can be done in a short time. It just depends on whether it is necessary. As far as the current E2EE is concerned, Applications on the mobile side are still relatively avant-garde, especially with a large scale like Helo with hundreds of millions of users, it will still be very difficult to apply."

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows and said, "In the final analysis, Helo did not use such technology."

Shen Xiangyang said: "First of all, it is a technical consideration. Development is indeed very difficult and the input-output ratio is too low. What is more important is actually the product level."

"product?"

"Well, I have communicated with Lu Qi. Helo is now a very popular product among the public. There is no need to rely on being new and different to attract users. The most important thing is to maintain the stability of the product and reduce the failure rate. And in this way A kind of E2EE that may not be stable enough for large-scale application."

"Wait until the market matures before applying it?"

This is easier to understand for Zhou Buqi.

Analysis from the product level is the main reason.

If Helo really needs such new technology, then no matter how much research and development funds are spent, it should be invested in it.

Shen Xiangyang said: "Yes, wait and see the market feedback, and then make targeted adjustments. For the vast majority of users, they don't care at all whether communication messages are sent in clear text or encrypted. Moreover, E2EE The advantages are obvious, but so are the disadvantages.”

Zhou Buqi asked: "What are the shortcomings?"

Shen Xiangyang said with a smile: "Just like email, the encrypted transmission in the past twenty years has been based on the public key system. Firstly, the technical level is relatively simple, and secondly, it also meets product requirements. The platform party can crack all the public keys by mastering the public key. Based on the content of the email, you can effectively distinguish which emails are valid emails and which are spam emails. This can intelligently help users classify emails and help users avoid being harassed by spam emails."

Zhou Buqi reacted immediately and said quickly: "If it is this end-to-end encryption method, the confidentiality is indeed stronger and the privacy is better. However, the platform cannot decipher the content of the communication. This It will inevitably breed a lot of spam!”

At this point, he quickly understood.

When he used an iPhone in his previous life, one of his biggest headaches was that he always received spam iMessages. It's not spam text messages, it's communication information between iPhones.

This kind of spam is very annoying.

At that time, Zhou Buqi didn't know much about technology, so he felt strange. Why couldn't Apple, with its strength, do even this well? It’s not even as good as many Android copycat phones. The technology is too poor, right?

Now I understand that this is not a technical weakness at all.

On the contrary, this is Apple's technology being too good.

The information transmission between users is encrypted to the extreme, not to mention that outsiders cannot crack it, even Apple itself cannot crack it, so that they cannot analyze which information is valid information and which information is spam.

The technology is too high, but it reduces the user experience of the product.

However, this technical direction will definitely be a major trend in the future.

Traditional text messages really need to be phased out.

Confidentiality is not enough.

Apart from anything else, sending text messages... First of all, it is impossible to bypass the telecom operator. This mode of sending clear text will become increasingly deviated from the mainstream market.

In other words, if these telecom operators are responsible and classify the text messages, which ones are scam text messages, which ones are spam text messages, and which ones are text messages that may involve personal privacy information.

In this way, many crimes based on text messages can be reduced.

There is no need to use the latest E2EE technology, just use the public key model used in e-mails twenty years ago.

This involves commercial interests.

SMS is a very important money-making business for telecom operators. Except for operators in a few countries who simply classify and remind spam text messages, operators in most countries adopt an indifferent attitude.

For operators, fraudulent text messages, spam text messages, and false text messages are important guarantees for SMS business revenue.

Just like medical ads on search platforms.

I make my money.

Whoever is deceived is your own business and has nothing to do with the platform.

Shen Xiangyang said: "Yes, that's what I mean. Helo has not applied E2EE technology for the time being, mainly for product reasons. However, I have organized a team to conduct research in this direction."

Zhou Buqi quickly thought of something else and asked, "Ziweixing International has acquired Snapchat. Has it been officially announced?"

"Not yet, there are still some details to be dealt with." Shen Xiangyang knew what he meant and said with a smile, "Yes, Snapchat does use E2EE technology now."

Zhou Buqi asked: "How is it?"

Shen Xiangyang shook his head, "It's very average... To be precise, it's very bad. Their research on E2EE is too superficial. Even if the transaction is successfully completed, their technical achievements will not have much practical value. They should all Push it down. My technical team will fully take over the technical line of Snapchat."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "After all, Snapchat is just a small company that has just been started for more than a year, so it's not surprising that the technology is a bit poor."

Shen Xiangyang said: "Well, Lu Qi also discussed this product with me. Snapchat is different from Helo. Snapchat is still in its infancy and relies on some gimmick functions to attract people. Helo does not need it and has already entered the market. We are in a relatively stable stage of development, so we should not be too hasty in our decision-making, and the choice of technical route must be based on stability.”

“How is the effect of the Snapchat application?”

"It's just so-so, just a gimmick."

"That's not true, is it?"

Zhou Buqi felt that Lao Shen had reduced Snapchat to nothing.

Shen Xiangyang said seriously: "That's true, about three o'clock. First, Snapchat is now selectively encrypted end-to-end. Their technology is too poor and the encryption technology is not mature enough to take care of every user. Every message. So when Snapchat users send messages that disappear after reading, some may be end-to-end encrypted, and some may still send them in clear text. I didn’t ask for specific data, but I guess... The proportion of messages that will be end-to-end encrypted will not exceed 5%."

Zhou Buqi twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "It's still in the experimental stage."

Shen Xiangyang said: "Also, the second point is that it cannot be cross-platform. At this stage, Snapchat's end-to-end encryption can only be applied to the iOS system. A user of an iPhone using Snapchat to another user of a Snapchat of an iPhone Sending messages may be end-to-end encrypted. But their research has not yet involved Android and other platforms."

After all, it is a start-up company, with a small R\u0026D team, few funds, few engineers, and no technology accumulation at all.

We can only do it bit by bit and explore slowly.

Then, Shen Xiangyang made a third point, that is, it is impossible to synchronize multiple devices.

In short, the application of this technical direction on the mobile terminal is still a very new topic and a very cutting-edge field. Especially when applied on a large scale, it will be a very complex project.

It’s simply impossible for a small company to do that.

Those communication products on the market that claim to apply end-to-end encryption technology are basically gimmicks.

Just like many liquor marketing, 50-year-old wine... In fact, a bottle of new wine is added with a few drops of 50-year-old wine to become 50-year-old wine, which can cause rush in the market.

Having said all that, Shen Xiangyang actually means one thing: Ziweixing International still lacks a lot in the breadth of technology. The acquisition of Yahoo can make great compensation at this level!

Yahoo Mail has been playing with encryption for more than 20 years and is very mature.

This can completely provide research and development ideas for the latest end-to-end encryption technology, which is much better than Snapchat.