As Disney moves away from its productivity platform following a serious data breach, UK-based open-source tool Matrix boldly claims to be hack-proof. But is the mainstream tech industry prepared to adopt it?
Reporting from Berlin Brandenburg airport’s departure lounge, I can recommend the fish and chips imitation, but I suggest skipping the security line—arriving early is your best bet. I’m here for a conference hosted by a tech company you might not be familiar with yet, Matrix, which will soon be on your radar.
In the tech world, single points of failure pose significant challenges. The chaos following a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which impacted millions in July, and the outages that frustrated Netflix users underscore our heavy reliance on just a few companies.
This brings us to Disney’s recent announcement. The company revealed internally last week that it will no longer use Slack after a July data breach exposed all 44 million messages, 13,000 PDFs, and numerous spreadsheets. This was not only embarrassing for Disney but particularly harmful to Slack as it highlighted a critical failure point.
While protests against AI-generated art could fill an entire edition of TechScape, let’s focus on the main takeaway: Disney has decided to ditch Slack. Although an internal message uncovered by the Wall Street Journal didn’t state, “We’re moving away from Slack due to dissatisfaction,” it did mention, “We should leverage more integrated tools and platforms wherever possible.”
This news came just hours before my conversation with Matrix co-founders Matthew Hodgson and Amandine Le Pape, who are positioning Matrix as a direct alternative to Slack. Unlike Slack, which is centrally controlled, Matrix offers a decentralized messaging and workplace productivity tool that claims to be virtually hack-proof.
While potential vulnerabilities may still exist within Matrix, the founders are keen to showcase how their encryption practices can help safeguard businesses, especially in light of Disney’s recent issues. Throughout our discussion, they referenced Disney’s situation multiple times.
Hodgson and Le Pape hope to persuade organizations to adopt Matrix to lessen their dependence on vulnerable systems. Hodgson pointed out the arrest of Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, and the subsequent data security concerns as critical lessons for companies to consider.
Despite their aspirations, the founders were upfront about the competition they face from established platforms like Slack. “Many private-sector companies don’t mind that much that their communication is unencrypted and stored by Microsoft,” Le Pape said, drawing attention to the over-reliance on platforms like Teams. “It’s pretty remarkable.”
Is convenience outweighing security? I believe this could be entirely true. The conference was highly technical; at times, the information was so complex it went over my head—much like the flights taking off from gate D06. This complexity is also why many organizations opt to remain with Slack or Teams instead of transitioning to Matrix.
The last 25 years of tech development have emphasized reducing barriers and friction. While we may not always select the best products, we tend to gravitate toward those that are easiest to use. In the tech landscape, convenience often reigns supreme, likely keeping companies loyal to familiar names even in the aftermath of data breaches and other major issues.
I’m skeptical this trend will shift anytime soon. It explains why decentralized platforms like Bluesky, which is similar to Matrix, have yet to gain mainstream traction, even as X (formerly Twitter) struggles. It also sheds light on why Linux, despite being a more robust operating system than those from Apple and Microsoft, remains a niche interest. I appreciate the Matrix team for their honesty about the challenges they face ahead.
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