Raphael Robert

Raphael Robert

@raphaelrobert.bsky.social

Founder and director of @phoenixrd.bsky.social. Working on @air.ms. #MessagingLayerSecurity co-author. 🦀. He/him.

309 followers102 following63 posts

A new secure messenger needs to have a solid foundation. For Air, this foundation is OpenMLS. It has been years in the making, and now it has been audited. This is an important milestone for Air.

Air@air.ms

It’s still early days for Air, but the foundation on which it is built is solid. The @sovereign.tech funded a security audit conducted by @srlabs.bsky.social of the underlying end-to-end encryption.

The OpenMLS audit report is now public!

Phoenix R&D@phoenixrd.bsky.social

OpenMLS, our implementation of the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol, has undergone a security audit conducted by @srlabs.bsky.social and sponsored by the @sovereign.tech. The security audit marks an important step toward making OpenMLS more secure. More details in our blog post:

Time to send some animated GIFs!

Air@air.ms

New release: Air v0.16.1 Air is a new private messenger based on the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol. Invite-only for now. ✨️ New features: - Date separators in the chat - Support for animated GIFs - Highlight quoted messages when jumping to them

You can now reply to messages in Air

Air@air.ms

New release: Air v0.13.0 Air is a new private messenger based on the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol. Invite-only for now. ✨️ New features: - Reply to messages inline. Swipe right on a message to reply to it.

Raphael Robert reposted

We will be at #39C3 and we brought something exciting: Invitation codes for the beta phase of Air, our new secure messenger based on MLS! ✨ Hit us up if you’d like to join the beta with your friends. You can also follow @air.ms, where we’ll post updates over time.

Raphael Robert reposted

We made MLS more decentralized! We are excited to share DMLS that brings fork resilience to the MLS protocol, solving a key challenge in distributed systems while maintaining Forward Secrecy. This work was made possible by @equalitie.bsky.social, who funded it as part of the Breakout program.

blog.phnx.imMaking MLS more decentralizedIt’s no secret that we at Phoenix R&D are big fans of the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol, having helped it to come into existence. It’s a versatile group key agreement and messaging protocol ...

Raphael Robert reposted

Die Stimmen gegen die #Chatkontrolle werden mehr und lauter. Nun hagelt es deutliche Kritik aus der Wirtschaft. Zudem warnen der Deutsche Journalistenverband und der Anwaltverein vor einer Überwachungsinfrastruktur, die schnell ausgebaut werden könnte. netzpolitik.org/2025/eu-uebe...

netzpolitik.orgEU-Überwachungspläne in der Kritik: Wirtschaftsverbände Bitkom und eco klar gegen ChatkontrolleDie Stimmen gegen die Chatkontrolle werden mehr und lauter. Nun hagelt es deutliche Kritik aus der Wirtschaft. Zudem warnen der Deutsche Journalistenverband und der Anwaltverein vor einer Überwachungs...

Raphael Robert reposted

🚨 Der Gesetzentwurf zur #Chatkontrolle sieht vor, dass digitale Kommunikation einschließlich verschlüsselter Nachrichten und Fotos gescannt werden soll. Wir haben uns an die deutsche Bundesregierung gewandt, sich am 14. Oktober gegen den Gesetzesvorschlag der Chatkontrolle auszusprechen.

linkedin.comUnser Brandbrief zur geplanten Chatkontrolle – eine Gefährdung der digitalen Sicherheit Deutschlands | Phoenix R&D🚨Der Gesetzentwurf zur #Chatkontrolle sieht vor, dass digitale Kommunikation einschließlich verschlüsselter Nachrichten und Fotos gescannt werden soll.  Die Sicherheit von sicheren Messenger-Diensten ...

Not long ago, someone (who is likely the founder of SimpleX Chat) wrote a blog post about MLS that contained a pretty blatant factual mistake about MLS' authentication, including an alleged lack of security. Thankfully, @soatok.bsky.social took the time to debunk that: soatok.blog/2025/08/25/b...

soatok.blogBarking Up The Ratchet Tree – MLS Is Neither Royal Nor Nude - Dhole MomentsOne of the first rules you learn about technical writing is, “Know your audience.” But often, this sort of advice is given without sufficient weight or practical examples. Instead, you&…

Raphael Robert reposted

We did a thing. We combined TLS and MLS into a hybrid protocol. Why? Because sometimes you need connections that last for weeks, quantum-resistant security, or simpler certificates. The experiment is open-source. Here's the story 👇

blog.phnx.imCombining TLS and MLS: An experimentWe did a thing. We combined TLS and MLS into a hybrid protocol. Of course, when things get serious, full names are in order: We combined the Transport Layer Security protocol and the Messaging Layer S...

We really did do a thing.

Phoenix R&D@phoenixrd.bsky.social

We did a thing. We combined TLS and MLS into a hybrid protocol. Why? Because sometimes you need connections that last for weeks, quantum-resistant security, or simpler certificates. The experiment is open-source. Here's the story 👇

Raphael Robert reposted

We are #hiring a Freelance Junior Product Manager to help us build the next generation of private & secure messaging. If you’re interested in joining our team, please apply today! For friends of secure messaging 🥷, please share our post with potential candidates.

join.comPhoenix R&D (Remote): Freelance Junior Product Manager (all genders, part-time)Phoenix R&D GmbH has a remote job opening for Freelance Junior Product Manager (all genders, part-time) (published: 15.05.2025). Apply now or check the other available jobs.

Raphael Robert reposted

Replying to @matthewdgreen.bsky.social

The idea that you can just “teach computer science” and be apolitical is a beautiful dream that expired in the 2000s, at the latest. Computer science has re-organized every facet of our society: it is inherently political. Instead of taking this idea seriously, we ran from it. Now we live in hell.

The SCW podcast team does it again and breaks down a newish, complex and alarming topic into palatable and informative pieces. Excellent questions from @durumcrustulum.com and @dadrian.io expertly answered by @josephhall.org and @matthewdgreen.bsky.social. Listen to it if you have time!

NEW EPISODE! Apple did something very un-Apple-y by pulling its Advanced Data Protection encryption for iCloud in the UK. We're joined by @matthewdgreen.bsky.social and @joebeone.techpolicy.social to discuss the ramifications: youtu.be/LAn_yOGUkR0 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

We are hiring two Rust engineers!

Phoenix R&D@phoenixrd.bsky.social

We #hiring a full-time and a freelance Senior Rust Engineer to help us build the next generation of private & secure messaging. If you’re interested in joining our team, please apply today! For friends of secure messaging 🥷, please share our post with potential candidates.

Raphael Robert reposted

We attended the Real World Crypto Symposium in Toronto 🇨🇦 where @raphaelrobert.bsky.social talked about how far MLS has come since RWC 2019. Highlights: - Post-quantum resistance and how easy it is to upgrade from current schemes - Deployment in existing products like Webex and Discord (🧵1/2)

Raphael Robert reposted

WhatsApp shared first details on how they will comply with the #DMA. We are critical of the Signal protocol, as there has never been a complete specification that allows secure implementation of the protocol. This was one of the main reasons to develop MLS. Our conversation with @netzpolitik.org👇

netzpolitik.orgInteroperabilität: WhatsApp soll bald mit anderen Messengern reden können – netzpolitik.orgWegen neuer Regeln in der EU muss WhatsApp sich so öffnen, dass die Nutzer:innen auch mit Kontakten auf anderen Messengern kommunizieren können. Nun hat WhatsApp erste Details verraten, wie das gehen soll. Doch grundsätzliche Probleme bleiben.

Raphael Robert reposted

Check out our blog post where we examine the push notification problem and address potential misconceptions! In the wake of recent reports on surveillance via push notifications, many people have been confused about it and how it affects their own privacy when using messengers anonymously.

blog.phnx.imOn the privacy of push notificationsPush notifications are a mechanism through which applications can send and display notifications to users of smartphones. The infrastructure that drives these notifications in the background is a comp...