Instant Messaging Apps You Should Get for Secure Conversations

Guess post by Jeff Anderson of Techwarn.com

image from pixbay.com

The internet is truly a land of possibilities.

Back in the days of EDGE, the best that we could do was send SMS texts to one another. Fast forward to the launching of 3G and 4G networks, and we now have instant messaging apps to change the game. 

That has not only brought about a higher level of convenience but a more cost-effective way to keep in touch with one another.

However, not all IM apps are for you. Some are safer than others, and you will be better using those. If you care about your data privacy and security, that is.

We have made a selection of some of the most secure options out there today.

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Criteria for Selection

No, we did not just choose these apps based on the fact that we like them. After all, what we feel for the applications will not protect us in the case of a data breach or hack.

image from pixabay.com

Thus, we have based this selection on the following:

●       End-to-End Encryption

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Relatively unknown in the commercial messaging space before, many providers started to bring end-to-end encryption to their messaging platforms in the year 2016. Since then, these companies have been working hard on improving how their E2E encryption systems work.

What this means is that the conversation is encrypted on both sides. That way, no one other than the communicating parties can see what is being sent and received on that chat server.

To make this happen, the companies behind the IM services have launched a protocol that automatically generates encryption keys for every chat. These keys are safely stored away too so that the chats cannot be decrypted with them.

Chats mustn't just be encrypted on one end but both so that the other end does not serve as the weak link to expose all the chats in the case of a hack.

●       Biometric Sign-in

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For this, the first round of thanks needs to go to smartphone OEMs from all around the world for the good work that they have done in the way of biometrics. Even though there are still some flaws in the system, it is better than what used to be available anyways.

To that end, some of the IM apps on this list have also incorporated biometric sign-in into their protocols. 

For services like WhatsApp, you don’t need to sign in every time as long as your number has been associated with the account on the phone. However, you can secure the opening of the chat app better when you are required to use your face or signature to get into it.

●       Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication recently became a common feature on most IM apps.

With that, it becomes impossible for a hacker to take complete control of another person’s account on another device. That has been an issue with some chat applications in the past, but not anymore.

We also love the implementation of 2FA on some of the apps in this list. So that you do not forget your code, the app will require you to re-enter it from time to time

This way, you are guaranteed never losing access to the account – or your special protection code.

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●       User Interface

Of course, this does not contribute to the safety and privacy that these apps offer. However, would you use a highly secure yet clunky instant messaging service?

Thus, we have ensured the picks here are as intuitive as can be. They are also some of the best designed messaging apps you can download. Finally, they offer all that a basic IM app should allow you.

So, besides sending just text, you can also share media.

●       Free

You don’t have to pay to start using IM apps. That you want to communicate securely does not mean you have to pay for the service either.

While some of these apps might be testing features for monetization in the future, we have a unique pick that is completely non-profit. Let’s not let the cat out of the bag at this point though.

image from pixabay.com

Our Top IM Picks for Privacy

Now that you know the rationale behind our choices, here are the ones that we came up with: 

1 iMessage

To start with, anyone that has been in the Apple ecosystem for a while now will agree that the company is highly dedicated to user data privacy and security. This is the same for the current CEO of the company, Tim Cook, and that desire for safety has trickled into all the products and apps which they have developed.

One of such products is the iMessage

To start with, both iMessage and the associated FaceTime (for video calls) are operated on an end-to-end encryption model. This is so strong that even Apple cannot read the messages that are being sent in your conversations.

On top of that, the company has provided the option to have your messages automatically deleted after a while on your phone. Depending on your preferences, you can set the messages to expire after 30 days, a full year or that they remain on the device till you manually delete them.

Finally, Apple insists that the iMessage apps that allow you to share pictures, videos and stickers have no access to either your chat or contact information. They are only given enough permissions to do what they have to do, and that is it.

2 WhatsApp

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For a service that has come to be the favorite of more than 1.5 billion users from all over the world, strong data privacy is expected.

We have already mentioned the option of signing in with biometrics up there, so we will not flog that anymore. You can also choose to have a passcode instead if you do not trust your biometric data.

Following that, WhatsApp also introduced end-to-end encryption in 2016 – and they have been improving the security of that platform ever since. To buttress that, they brought a two-factor authentication system that allows users to keep control of their account even if they lost the device/ exposed some of their sign-in requirements.

There are also plans to bring expiring messages to the WhatsApp platform for everyone. This will allow you to set how long a message can stay for, after which the user does not see it anymore. That surely brings a higher level of security and trust to the chats you are having with contacts.

Like iMessage, though, WhatsApp optionally backs your chat up to the cloud. If there were ever a cloud account hack, you could risk losing some of your sensitive data too.

3 Telegram

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Telegram is that social messaging app that did not come to play.

They were one of the first third-party IM app providers that identified security as one of the biggest things to have in such apps. Ever since, they have been focused on a model of speed and security.

We don’t need to talk about end-to-end encryption as it is a standard across all Telegram chats. We also need to laud the fact that they do better than the remaining apps on this list when it comes to deleting messages.

On Telegram, you can order your messages to be deleted from the other end of the conversation too – making it more secure for leaving no trails.

Furthermore, Telegram has been using expiring messages for long now. That way, users can send sensitive messages that will self-destruct after a while. All that sounds like mere cool stuff, but they are at the heart of your data privacy and security.

 4 Signal

If you heard that there was an instant messaging app that Edward Snowden trusts, wouldn’t you trust it too? That is the simple story with Signal.

Now that you know this, we can stop talking about it and just ask that you take the app at face value. We won’t do that, though.

Thus, we should let you know that the app is a brainchild of developers who started the company as a non-profit. This means they don’t have plans of monetizing in the future, so they don’t have to leave backdoors for marketers which can be exploited by hackers.

To back up their story is Brian Acton – the co-founder of WhatsApp – who donates generously to their cause. Seeing as Brian left Facebook (after the WhatsApp acquisition) just because he didn’t agree with them on privacy issues, that also tells you why his backing of this app means a lot.

Chatting Securely

As we said, you don't need to purchase any special IM app just to chat safely with your contacts. For better security against hacks, though, it is recommended that you layer your internet connection with a VPN.

Make sure you subscribe to one of the most secure VPN out there so that you don’t protect your data one way only to lose it the other way.

Over to you guys now. Which of these apps has been your daily chat driver, and why?

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WhatsApp Encryption: Finding A Balance Between Privacy And Security Challenges In Nigeria

  by Eromose Ileso

WhatsApp

The popular instant messaging service WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook announced on Tuesday that it has introduced end-to-end encryption to messages in it services. 

What this development means in a nutshell is once a message leaves a sender’s device, they are in scrambled or unintelligent form, and only the receiver of that message can decrypt or decode what the message says, thereby excluding the possibility of a third party’s ability to decipher what the message means. Third party here could include law enforcement agents, security officers or even criminals who would now be unable to read such messages when they are intercepted. This encryption also applies to video calls and other file transfers.

This development comes at a time when terrorist organisations worldwide are increasingly looking for ways to beat the sophisticated surveillance and monitoring of their communications by different spy agencies in the Western world. There have been calls by organisations that seek to protect the privacy of vulnerable individuals for more to be done to see that certain communication do not fall into the hands of wrong persons.

However, the new encryption introduced by Whatsapp, a messaging service that has over a billion users worldwide came just after America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took Apple Corporation to court demanding that the technology giants should design a software that would have enabled them to unlock the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers Syed Farook in order to get more information about the said attack that claimed the lives of 16 persons. 

The phone in question had a password used by the attacker, and inputing the password four times would have led to the information in it to be wiped out. But the FBI wanted a situation where software would have been designed to enable different combinations of password without it leading to the loss of any information.

A United States District Court was set to rule on the matter before the FBI asked for the case to be dropped on the eve of the hearing, because an Israeli company had devised a means to unlock the iPhone, so Apple Corp. was no longer needed, and any ruling from the court would have been overtaken by events.

This was inevitably a dangerous territory that pitted the authorities against a technological giant and in-between was the issue of privacy.

While the advocates of privacy and free speech including the likes of Amnesty International hailed the move by Whatsapp, it is yet another setback in the fight against terrorism in the wider world.

In Nigeria, it is no longer news that terrorism has been vested on its territory by the deadly dark acts of Boko Haram. Besides, Boko Haram whose reign of terror has brought devastation to the North East of Nigeria especially in Borno and Yobe states, there are other criminal gangs that engages in kidnapping, abduction and armed robbery. And virtually these groups, be it terrorist or criminal gangs all engage in the use of technology. They all communicate using these instant messaging service(s).

No doubt with the introduction of Whatsapp end-to-end encryption, it would make it even more difficult for security agents to access the information from these devices with the app thereby denying them of vital information that could have led to the capture of a terrorist or a criminal.

Many of these terrorist organisations and criminal gangs already use cryptic communications to get across information within their groups, but that was informal, these new development has made it formal for such groups to perpetuate acts of terror by sending encrypted messages without having to be noticed by vigilant security organisations. 

What this means is that the larger society would have to pay the price, because if an orchestrated plan to unleash terror is not stopped at its planning stage, it means it is when the acts have been carried out and there are causalities, that is when the authorities would become aware of such development just like the Paris and Brussels attacks as well as the UN Building, Police headquarters and Yanya Motor Park that were bombed by Boko Haram in Abuja.

With the advancement in technology, so also have different groups devised means by which they beat any possible surveillance or monitoring that are put on them by security agencies.

In Nigeria, the country is still however, a distant time away from adequately using technology to fight crime. Instead there is a strong reliance on instinct and raw power to unravel certain mysteries, while on few occasions, intelligence has led to the capture of a criminal or terrorist. 

It is this archaic way of criminal investigation which has led to the various anti-corruption bodies to make arrest at first instance before commencing investigation on the detainee. Whereas in advanced societies, a person would have been undergoing underground investigation without his knowledge, and when they have gathered enough material evidence using both scientific and technological methods, such a person would be arrested and charged on the basis of such evidence.

If continuous encryption of communication will pose a huge problem to security agents in advanced countries when it comes to fighting crime, what does this mean in the fight of crime in Nigeria? 

Ultimately, it would make it even harder to use a method that has not even taken off in the first place to engage in crime fighting which is technology.

Over in the United States, the courts might have been prevented to rule over the FBI’s plans to get Apple Corp. to develop a special software to unlock an iPhone in respect of the San Bernardino attacks. However, in another case, a court in New York still denied the FBI’s demands for Apple to assist in getting data from the iPhone of a drug baron who had pleaded guilty to the charges levelled against him. However, a higher court on 8 April eventually granted the FBI prayers for Apple to assist in getting data out of the heavily encrypted iPhone of the Mexican drug baron.

The lines between privacy and free speech when it comes to fighting terrorism and criminal elements would remain a slipping slope so long as there are bumps in the way to fight crime.

The courts will have to decide on a case by case basis whether certain privacy of suspects should be allowed to remain absolute, because when it comes to resolving mysteries regarding crimes, any possible information that could aid in solving it could just be lodged in a mobile device in an encrypted Whatsapp message.