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1) I don't think I've ever told you, Dualstow, this ... but it's not been infrequent that the first time I've become aware of something is via you.
Thanks for that explanation. Probably better than I could have got anywhere else!dualstow wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2024 2:49 pm Ok, this is the type of question I really want to answer rather than send you googling (Bing'ing?) I'll do my best.
Facebook Messenger does not apply. That doesn't mean it's safe, but it's not a part of this story.
Like, you, I'm Android and I text with many an Apple friend. (I often use a non-cellular Apple device to participate in an apple-to-apple conversation, but this has a huge drawback. People get confused about how & where to contact me).
If you're in a hurry, you can jump down to the paragraph that begins "Bottom line."
As I understand it from previous articles, this is Tim Cook's fault. He could have welcomed Android phones into the fold so that there would be secure comms for all. But, he's good for shareholder value, perpetuating the stigma of the green bubble -- that's us, Vin. That's how we Android users appear on our friends' iPhones. I don't know why iPhone users care, or at least why they cared before this week. But they do.
There's nothing Android can do from their end. They've done their part. Vulnerable SMS has graduated to RCS, so Android-to-Android is often encrypted, just like Apple-to-Apple. Your mileage may vary. I can see that some of my Android friends still display as SMS because they're on some cheap phone with a prepaid plan, or maybe they inadvertently have RCS switched off in settings.
Meanwhile, Apple has made *some* progress. You can have *kind of* RCS between Apple and Android now. Before this FBI story broke, I noticed a change in the appearance of the conversations, I could change colors and customize things. But, this is superficial. This FBI warning comes after said progress.
Bottom line: SMS texts between Apple and Android are vulnerable to interception, just like those one-time codes you get from websites for two-factor authentication (oops, that's another story). In addition to homegrown hackers, the FBI says the Chinese are listening.
Sure, if you're not a corporate worker with secrets you can say "I've got nothing to hide, the Chinese are just going to hear me complaining to my spouse that she picked up the wrong ice cream," and so on. but isn't it kind of icky?
Signal is a more secure messenging app. I think Whatsapp, while owned by Facebook, uses Signal's technology. Threema is pretty great but only Europeans seem to be on it. Telegram is not really encrypted. Only advertised as such. I like it, but I consider it to be public, social media masquerading as a messaging app. (I'm probably stealing Matthew Green's or someone else's line here).
Disclaimer: I'm not really tech minded, I don't have a deep understanding of encryption, and I know even less about how phones work.