There is a very interesting article about current hazards of unencrypted texting and calling at https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/12/03/fbi-warns-iphone-and-android-users-stop-sending-texts/
From the article:
I wonder why they aren't also pushing encrypted e-mail. Properly encrypted and digitally signed e-mail would be a real help, I think.
I only know of two people on my lists who use signal - one nephew and one niece. We use it more and more.
There is one thing that I dislike about signal. When you add signal to a new device, you only get new messages from people you correspond with -- the old messages are gone. In contrast, when you use something insecure like Telegram, you get the entire set of messages.
From the article:
Quote:
Now even the FBI and CISA, the US cyber defense agency, are warning Americans to use fully encrypted messaging and phone calls where they can. The backdrop is the Chinese hacking of US networks that is reportedly "ongoing and likely larger in scale than previously understood." Fully encrypted comms is the best defense against this compromise, and Americans are being urged to use that wherever possible.
I wonder why they aren't also pushing encrypted e-mail. Properly encrypted and digitally signed e-mail would be a real help, I think.
I have signal on my cell phone and signal extensions to use signal from my desktops.Quote:
The network cyberattacks, attributed to Salt Typhoon, a group associated with China's Ministry of Public Security, has generated heightened concern as to the vulnerabilities within critical US communication networks. The reality is different. Without fully end-to-end encrypted messaging and calls, there has always been a potential for content to be intercepted. That's the entire reason the likes of Apple, Google and Meta advise its use, highlighting the fact that even they can't see content.
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As reported by Politico, advice given by CISA's Jeff Greene and an unnamed FBI senior official included "strongly urging Americans to 'use your encrypted communications where you have it… we definitely need to do that, kind of look at what it means long-term, how we secure our networks'."
The two officials briefing the media went as far as to suggest "that Americans should use encrypted apps for all their communications," according to other reports (1,2).
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Greene added that "our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here: encryption is your friend, whether it's on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible."
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The lack of end-to-end encryption to protect cross-platform RCS, the successor to SMS, is a glaring omission. It was highlighted in Samsung's recent celebratory PR release on the success of RCS, which included the caveat that only Android to Android messaging is secured.
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There are other fully encrypted platforms as wellnotably Signal, the best of the bunch, albeit with a much smaller install base.
I only know of two people on my lists who use signal - one nephew and one niece. We use it more and more.
There is one thing that I dislike about signal. When you add signal to a new device, you only get new messages from people you correspond with -- the old messages are gone. In contrast, when you use something insecure like Telegram, you get the entire set of messages.
When someone calls me on signal, it takes me so long to determine whether the incoming call is to the regular cell phone number, my Google Voice cell phone number, or signal, that whenever someone calls, they went to voicemail before I could get to them and I have to call them back.Quote:
Signal and WhatsApp also enable fully encrypted voice and video calls cross platform, and so they should also be your default choices given this FBI/CISA warning.
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