What is encrypted messaging? Here's how to switch after the government's warning

Federal authorities announced that hackers in China stole “customer call data” from an unknown number of Americans, but encrypted messages could be the first line of defense for people in the US to secure their communications in the face of this cyber threat.

The “cyber espionage campaign” was announced in mid-November by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Authorities determined that the China-linked hackers “compromised networks of multiple telecommunications companies” to enable the theft of customer call data, the FBI and CISA press release said.

In November, authorities said the hackers had compromised “a limited number of individuals primarily involved in government or political activities,” the release said.

Last week, authorities released a joint guide to better protect U.S. citizens from being compromised by the campaign. In the guide entitled “Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure, The authorities are proposing end-to-end encryption as a solution.

“PRC-linked cyber activity poses a serious threat to critical infrastructure, government agencies and businesses,” said Jeff Greene, deputy director for cybersecurity at CISA, in a Dec. 3 press release. “Together with our U.S. and international partners, we urge software manufacturers to integrate Secure by Design principles into their development lifecycle to strengthen their customers’ security posture.”

Holiday offers: Shop this season’s top products and special offers, curated by our editors.

Here’s how to switch to encrypted messages and which applications offer this feature.

What is end-to-end encryption?

According to Google, end-to-end encryption is a “security method that keeps your communications secure.”

“With end-to-end encryption, no one, including Google and third parties, can read legitimate messages as they pass between your phone and the phone you are sending messages to,” the tech company said.

Which applications offer end-to-end encrypted messages?

In addition to Google, several other applications offer encrypted features, including WhatsApp by Signal and Meta.

“Signal is the simplest and works by default for everyone. WhatsApp is fine, but collects more metadata,” Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Washington Post.

According to the company, Apple’s iMessage is also end-to-end encrypted.

“Apple has no way of decrypting the content of your conversations as they travel between devices,” the notice and the company’s privacy policy said.

Other messengers such as Telegram, Session, Briar and Threema all offer end-to-end encrypted messages. Facebook’s Messenger app is also end-to-end encrypted, a feature that became the default last year.

How to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging

The best way to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging is to use applications that support it, including WhatsApp, iMessage and Signal.

Before sending messages, users also need to understand that encryption features won’t help them if someone takes a screenshot or shares what they said or sent. This includes sending direct messages on X, TikTok or even Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Leave a Reply Cancel reply