Penulis Secure messaging apps are in the news these days, following a WikiLeaks dump of alleged CIA documents that showed how hackers might be able to circumvent smartphone privacy protections. The leak could discourage people from relying on these apps, but on balance they provide good security and are simple to use.
Consumers may have lots of reasons to want truly private communications with family, coworkers, and colleagues. Secure messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal are designed to help by using encryption to make sure only the people sending and receiving messages can read them. (All the people in the conversation need to be using the same app.)
The material on WikiLeaks discussed methods the CIA was developing to get around these apps.
For consumers interested in protecting their communications, it may have seemed as though hackers—whether they worked for a government or a criminal ring—could break through the encryption. Security experts quickly tried to debunk that idea, explaining that the apps themselves were secure, while the CIA had found ways to compromise smartphones, snooping out private messages before the secure messaging apps could do their work.
The truth is a bit more complicated. Some messaging apps may have almost unbreakable encryption, but they also have potential blind spots that can compromise your security and privacy. That doesn't mean they are useless, any more than door locks are irrelevent just because they don't prevent all break-ins.
Here's what you should know about phone security in general and encrypted messaging apps in particular. The four options we describe are all well-known and can be used free of charge.
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