YOU ARE IN SECTION
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
a table on the security provided by the nine most popular instant messaging applications. Neither WhatsApp or Skype or Facebook are the safest. Nor is Google Hangouts
security announced by Whatsapp is not as” end to end “. Photo: File Shutterstock
By David Sarabia
Mexico City, April 10 (HOWEVER / ElDiario.. s) .- on Tuesday, WhatsApp announced that it had finished implementing a new encryption system in their service increased security. Although he said with great fanfare, the fact is that encryption end to end was already invented. Elena Garcia, responsible for security research contents and the National Institute of Cybersecurity Spain (INCIBE), told ElDiario.es that in reality, the instant messaging application had “resorted to a library free code implemented in Signal to incorporate their services. “
Signal receives that name since November last year, after TextSecure and RedPhone were” fused “and included in the application. Since then, it is considered by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) as one of the most secure instant messaging applications. But what about the rest?
Is it true that Telegram uses encryption end to end? Does it protect Google Hangouts our conversations in the workplace? Are we free that an external attacker to access video calls via Skype we do? And what about Snapchat, the social network of millennials? Questions can continue succeeding with each new instant messaging service to explore. And many companies offer security in your product, but do they really protect the user?
Although there is no application 100 percent sure, is not the same to protect the environment to protect the message. Until last Tuesday, WhatsApp was the former and not the latter. The private chat Telegram also uses encryption end to end. eldiario.es produced a table with the nine most popular instant messaging applications. As mentioned above, Signal is, along with Pidgin and Chatsecure, safer service for the EFF. The private chat Telegram also comes here, not the “normal”.
They encrypt and decrypt the message on the device before leaving and entering. Or what is the same, they all use encryption end to end. In addition, its code is open, which allows each discovered security hole to be plugged by its developers. And, paradoxically, the only way to be sure that an application guarantees our privacy in communications is that their software is free.
The other side of the coin is for the Facebook chat, Hangouts and Snapchat. While the message travels all encryption, none is using the system end to end. Nor they have an open source, so that user security will be at the expense of the company offering the service. WhatsApp receives special mention. Elena remembered as yesterday, what he has done “is an important step towards certainty and is good.” However your code is still closed. The worst part is the leading Skype. And that when it was released back in 2003, it was one of the few services that included encrypted by default in your messages. Eight years later, was acquired by Microsoft and now the EFF believes the service of Bill Gates as one of the worst in terms of safety are concerned.
Graph. ElDiario.es
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