Encrypted messaging and calling apps: Here’s what you should use

US telecommunications companies, including AT&T, Verizon and Lumen, have been the target of massive and seemingly sophisticated espionage attacks for several months. China is the main suspect behind the hacks. For this reason, law enforcement advises the public to use encrypted apps for their messages and calls to prevent hackers from potentially accessing their communications.

Using unencrypted apps like regular SMS always carries the risk of being intercepted by a malicious party gaining access to a telecommunications company’s network. In this case, AT&T and Verizon customers are at risk of having their communications spied on.

Fortunately, in the age of smartphones, there are a variety of end-to-end encrypted apps for messaging and calling. End-to-end encryption is the type of strong security that hackers cannot break. And the best part is, you may already have encrypted apps on your iPhone and Android devices without knowing it.

In any case, the following solutions may be helpful until law enforcement determines that the hackers have been finally thwarted.

Accordingly NBC NewsSecurity officials recommend using encrypted messaging apps to prevent China from potentially eavesdropping on your communications.

“Our suggestion that we’ve been telling people internally is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it’s text messaging or whether you have the ability to use encrypted voice communications. Even if the attacker is able to intercept the data, it is impossible if the transmission is encrypted,” said Jeff Greene, deputy director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“People who want to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from using a cell phone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, has responsibly managed encryption and is phishing-resistant,” an unnamed FBI official added.

Greene further noted that it is impossible to “predict a time frame for when the full eviction will occur.” You may have to get used to relying on encrypted apps for messages and calls for a long time.

iMessage

Image source: Apple Inc.

For years, the default messaging app for the iPhone has been the default texting app that competitors have tried to copy and surpass. Apple has also set high security standards with the end-to-end encryption of iMessage. This is the app you should use to ensure all your chats are secured.

The downside is that end-to-end encryption only applies to your “blue bubbles”. These are the encrypted iMessages. If you see green bubbles on your iPhone, you should avoid them as these are SMS or RCS texts.

What you need: iPhone, iPad or Mac and an internet connection.

FaceTime

FaceTime is Apple’s iMessage equivalent, but for voice and video calls. It’s encrypted and you can easily switch between voice and video calls with a quick tap.

What you need: iPhone, iPad or Mac and an internet connection.

signal

Signal is a third-party app available for both iPhone and Android. It supports end-to-end encryption like iMessage and FaceTime and can be the perfect app for cross-platform communication.

Signal offers both messaging and calling support, so you don’t need two separate apps.

While it lets you communicate with iPhone and Android users, Signal needs to be installed separately.

What you need: iPhone or Android and an internet connection.

Whatsapp

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular chat app and is part of the Meta social network empire. WhatsApp had end-to-end encryption support before Meta (then Facebook) bought it, and Meta has retained this feature ever since.

Like Signal, it is a third-party app that you need to install on your device, but it works with both iPhone and Android devices.

Just like Signal, you get support for encrypted text messages and calls, all in one app.

What you need: iPhone or Android and an internet connection.

Google Messages – with a big security caveat

I’ll also add Google’s Messages app for Android as a potential secure, encrypted solution for texting, but with one big caveat. Google uses the RCS standard, which is not end-to-end encrypted. Only Google’s RCS version offers end-to-end encryption. It is not available on all Android devices and not on iPhones.

Therefore, if you use Google Messages to encrypt your chats, you need to make sure that the other person in the text chain is also using Google’s RCS Messages with encryption support.

What you need: Android with Google Messages RCS enabled and an internet connection.

One more thing

There may be other encrypted chat and calling apps or apps that claim to offer this type of security. The above are the most popular and well-known for their security (with the exception of Google RCS mentioned above). Make sure you do your homework when choosing lesser-known or partially encrypted iPhone or Android apps.

I’ve said all along that the disastrous AT&T and Verizon hacks prove that Apple was right about iPhone encryption. Apple’s insistence on securing its products forced others to follow suit.

Whether the months-long attack from China is soon resolved or takes a while to fully patch, you should get used to using encrypted communications apps. It’s not about hiding what you do; it’s about the principle of protecting your privacy.

I would also like to note that law enforcement agencies are not as quick to recommend encryption as they are to ask companies like Apple to create backdoors. As this attack shows, hackers find entry points that can be exploited, so encryption is always the best choice.