Texts between Apple and Android are not secure; The FBI suggests encryption

Hackers could be after your text messages. Particularly vulnerable: text messages between Android and Apple devices.

Three weeks ago, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revealed that hackers linked to the People’s Republic of China had infiltrated U.S. telecommunications infrastructure as part of “a comprehensive and significant cyber espionage campaign.”

The targets were “a limited number of individuals primarily involved in government or political activities,” authorities said at the time. Stolen included customer call data and “certain information that was the subject of U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders,” authorities said.

However, the hackers appear to still be at work, and cybersecurity officials said this week that they had failed to expel them from the networks of some telecommunications and internet companies.

Additionally, officials at these agencies are making a point of reminding smartphone users that text messages between Android devices and Apple devices are particularly vulnerable because they are not encrypted.

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“Encryption is your friend, whether it is text messages or whether you have the ability to use encrypted voice communications, even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted it will make it impossible, “If not really hard for them to detect it,” said Jeff Greene, deputy director of cybersecurity at CISA, during a press conference Tuesday.

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Hackers were able to steal a large amount of records, including information about where, when and with whom people communicated, but not audio or text messages, a senior FBI official said during the briefing. However, some in the Washington, D.C. area captured audio and text messages from the hackers, the official said.

Hackers still have access to the networks, officials said. And Greene said: “We are under no illusion that once we succeed in evicting these actors, they will not come back.”

Text messaging: What you should know about security

In addition to asking for help from private companies to assess the reach of the attacks, officials suggested that people concerned about the security of their messages should use encrypted messaging systems – think WhatsApp and Signal.

That’s because, if you’re like most of us, some of our texting friends have Apple devices and others have Android devices. Messages sent between two Apple gadgets are encrypted, as are messages sent between Google Messages users. However, the one between Android and Apple devices is not.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Thursday proposed measures by the agency to ensure that telecommunications companies are required to secure their networks.

“As technology advances, so do adversaries’ capabilities, meaning the United States must adapt and strengthen our defenses,” Rosenworcel said in a news release.

Chinese hacker attack “absolutely stunning”

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the National Security Council, Rosenworcel, the FBI and CISA held a closed briefing for the US Senate on Wednesday. Senators were briefed on the long-running investigations into PRC-linked “threat actors,” including a hacking group called Salt Typhoon, which has infiltrated several telecommunications and Internet companies, including “at least” eight telecommunications companies in the United States, including AT&T and Verizon and T Mobile.

“The scale, depth and breadth of Chinese hacking is absolutely staggering – that we would allow so much of what has happened in the last year alone is appalling,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal.

“This was part of a massive espionage campaign that affected dozens of countries,” the FCC said in a fact sheet.

New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday he will “work with national security agencies throughout the transition and next year to eliminate the threat and secure our networks.”

Rosenworcel, a Democrat who was appointed FCC chairwoman by President Joe Biden, has announced she will leave the agency next month.

US companies respond to hacker attack

Among the companies infiltrated, Verizon said: “Several weeks ago, we learned that a sophisticated nation-state actor had accessed several networks of telecommunications companies in the country, including Verizon,” adding that the incident affected a very small group of people in government and politics.

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