09/06/2024

Seriously, Use Encrypted Messaging

Understanding the future of encrypted messaging

Encrypted messaging is a godsend for mobile communications, whether you're sending texts to your friends that you want kept private, or engaging in interactions that are better kept secret for safety reasons. Apps like Signal and Telegram offer users the ability to trade messages that can be read by only the sender and the receiver. Of course, people can also use that privacy as a way to conduct unsavory dealings without having to worry about their communications getting exposed.

Encrypted messaging has been in the news for the past couple weeks, largely because of the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who is being accused by the French government of failing to comply with law enforcement demands to help catch some people who are using the app for criminal activity. Durov’s arrest also casts a light on the rising profile of Signal, a fully encrypted messaging app that’s always taken a stance against the collection of its users' data.

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED security writer Andy Greenberg joins us to talk about how encrypted messaging works, what can go wrong and how, while Telegram and Signal may seem similar, the ways they operate are different—and might affect what makes them liable for what users share on its platforms.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.