Signal, the secure messaging service by completely encryption of data, is at the center of military information leakage by the Trump administration, which has used this unauthorized channel to communicate internally, writes AFP.
Application Signal Photo: Shutterstock
Launched in its current form in 2014 this network is based on default on a technology known as encryption “end-to-end”.
This involves encrypting any message as soon as it is sent, the decryption taking place only at the recipient level, according to news.ro.
During the transmission, no third party, either signal, the operating system of the smartphone or telephone operator, cannot read the message, which is protected by encryption.
Signal also guarantees the confidentiality of metadata, ie user or recipient information, such as numbers or time to be sent or received the message, unlike other messaging services, such as Apple or WhatsApp from Meta, which collects some of this information.
This complete encryption has brought Signal the reputation to be one of the safest messaging services for consumers in the world, even if other networks such as Session and Brians offer equivalent services.
It is popular among users who want to protect their contacts or sources, such as journalists, activists, political dissidents and security personnel.
For the same reasons, it is also a favorite platform for organized crime.
Who holds Signal?
In 2010, Cyber Security specialist Moxie Marlinspike (Matthew Rosenfeld by birth name) and Software Stuart Anderson engineer founded Whisper Systems, who would give rise to Signal.
Bought by Twitter in 2011, Whisper Systems then hosted Signal in a non-profit entity, Signal Foundation in 2018.
This status, which contrasts with most major networks, controlled by private companies, contributes to making Signal a place of confidence for its users, who are more concerned than the average Internet user to protect their personal data.
The platform is mainly financed by subsidies and donations.
President Signal, Meredith Whittaker embodies the struggle of the network for independence.
“End-to-end encryption is the technology that allows us to keep personal data in an era in which state and corporate supervision is unprecedented,” she said in July.
Its use of the US government presents a risk?
“Signal is a very solid platform because it makes frequent updates and uses END-to-end encryption”stresses Michael Daniel, former presidential coordinator Obama on cyber security issues.
But “has never been conceived or intended to discuss military planning ”, explains the one who is currently chief of Cyber Threat Alliance.
The editor-in-chief of the prestigious Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, published a long article that details the exchanges of replicas between senior Americans on a military attack against Houthi in Yemen, in a discussion group to Signal to which was added by mistake.
For Michael Daniel, the problem is not so much the application itself, “How much is used on devices that may not be stored sufficiently or adequately protected” against attacks.
The use of signal to communicate unpublished information is not authorized by the American Defense Department.
If used “appropriate protocol”insists Michael Daniel, would have been impossible for a foreign person, in this case journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, to be added to the discussion group.
On the Social Network Bluesky, the encryption specialist Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, warned that the drained episode could work against Signal, whose popularity was even more stimulated.
“Being the only encrypted messaging service in which people really trust‘He wrote, ”Signal will become a target for far too many people. “
