![]() You can protect your Signal account with a PIN, so a scammer can’t just access your Signal account. ![]() A port-out scam that captures your phone number wouldn’t grant access to your Signal account.All they can see is encrypted traffic being sent back and forth to Signal’s servers. Authorities can’t snoop on the content of Signal messages-not without getting their hands on a phone that contains them. Stingrays can’t see your conversations.(In contrast, SS7 has been repeatedly compromised.) They would have to compromise the Signal encryption protocol, which security experts consider excellent. Signal messages can’t realistically be hijacked by hackers.If forced by subpoena, Signal can reveal almost nothing about your usage of the service. Not even Signal can see the contents of your messages or who you’re contacting-that remains a secret. Your cellular carrier can’t see the contents of your messages.Scammers can try to steal your cell phone number by tricking your cellular provider’s customer service staff.Authorities can deploy stingrays to snoop on the contents of text messages in an area.This puts financial and other accounts at risk. SMS messages can be intercepted by hackers due to weaknesses in the rickety old protocol that powers them.Any collected records could be subpoenaed in legal proceedings. Your cellular carrier can see the contents of the messages you’re sending and receiving.Let’s quickly summarize the problems with SMS, and compare it to a secure, end-to-end encrypted chat app like Signal. If you see green bubbles instead, the Messages app is using SMS instead-because you’re messaging someone without iMessage, likely a person who is an Android user. You’ll know iMessage is being used because the messages will have blue bubbles. These are end-to-end encrypted and sent through Apple’s servers. If both you and the person you want to text have iPhones and have enabled iMessage, any text you send will be sent as an iMessage instead. So how do they compare to SMS?Īpple’s iMessage piggy-backs on SMS in a sense, using phone numbers as identifiers. Both are designed to silently “upgrade” text message conversations to more modern, secure ones when both people are using devices that support them. ![]() On Android, more and more Android phones are gaining support for the more modern Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard. The Messages app on iPhone supports both SMS and Apple’s own iMessage service. Here's How to Stop Them iMessage and RCS: Better Than SMS? DenPhotos/ RELATED: Criminals Can Steal Your Phone Number. This has happened to quite a few people-enough that the FCC and Better Business Bureau have put out advisories warning about this scam. This is called a “port-out scam” or “SIM swapping attack.” For an individual scammer, tricking a customer service person is easier than hacking SS7, after all. With that, they can get access to accounts protected by SMS-based two-factor authentication. Now the attacker would have your phone number. Or, they may have the carrier issue a new SIM card tied to your phone number and deactivate your existing SIM card, removing access to your phone number. They may have the carrier “port out” your phone number to a different cellular carrier-just as you’d do if you were switching to another cellular provider. If the scammer has enough details and can trick your carrier’s customer service representatives, they can get control over your phone number. A scammer can call your cellular carrier or go into a store and impersonate you. Telegram: Which Is the Best Chat App? Your Phone Number Is Surprisingly Easy to Hijackīeyond SMS, phone numbers actually have very poor security-at the carrier level. For example, Telegram and Signal are banned in Iran. Other countries’ intelligence services also have access to stingrays and SMS-monitoring technology, so it’s clear why encrypted communication apps like Signal and Telegram are especially popular among activists living under repressive regimes.
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