Cybersecurity Awareness Tip 22: Use secure instant message for informal communication

Daily statistics:

• Over 200 billion emails (global)
• Over 6 billion text messages (US) 

Forbes explains that millenials prefer texting to phone calls. Many accounts are secured with a text message as a second factor for authentication. But the volume of text messages declined since its peak in 2011.

Instant messages and text messages are similar

Instand and text message have much in common:

• Both are instant, and senders generally expect instant responses
• Both are intrusive (messages pop up over other content) and used for informal communications

To Text...

Text messages are ubiquitous - nearly everyone can send and receive 1-to-1 text messages, and most can receive MMS (multimedia messenging service) message with multimedia content and multiple recipients. But SMS messages aren't secure. The How-To Geek identifies several reasons why SMS text messages aren't private or secure, including:

• Your Cellular Carrier Can See Your SMS Messages

• SMS Messages Can Be Intercepted by Criminals

• SMS Messages Can Be Monitored by Authorities

• Your Phone Number Is Surprisingly Easy to Hijack

Or Not to Text

A recent survey found over 90s of Americans actively used instant messengers (aka Chat Apps) in the 3rd quarter of 2020, beating social network apps like Facebook, MeWe and Minds. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recommended George Floyd protesters, who caused $1-2 billion in private property damages, move communications from Twitter to Signal, possibly to avoid a similar shutdown suffered by microblogging competitor Parler.

Secure Instant Messages offer advantages over SMS Text messages, including:

• Many (but not all) IM options provide end-to-end encryption
• Some also provide video chat, groups, and offer the ability to manage SMS text messages, too

SwampGeek Recommends...

SwampGeek recommends (without affiliate or any other compensation):

• Signal
  • Encrypts communications with other Signal users by default
  • Offers SMS text message management, group text and video chat, file sharing, limited secure video conferencing
  • Collects minimal personal data, compared with other messengers, which could be used to attack in the event of a breach

Resources

• Email vs. IM vs. SMS: Choosing the Right One