But Signal uses other techniques to keep your private and safety messages as well. For example, it does a lot of trouble to make the signal server itself difficult to know who you are talking about (a functionality known as “Sender seal”), or for an attacker who records traffic between phones to decipher traffic later by entering one of the phones (“secret before perfect”).
These are just a few many safety properties Built in the protocol, which is well designed and verified enough for other messaging applications, such as WhatsApp and Google Messages, to use the same.
The signal is also designed so that we do not have to trust the people who do it. The source code of the application is Available online And, due to its popularity as a security tool, is often verified by experts.
And even if its security was not based on our confidence in the publisher, it comes from a respected source: the Technology Foundation signal, a non -profit organization whose mission is to “protect freedom of expression and activate overall secure communication through open source confidentiality technology”. The application itself, and the foundation, was born from a community of defenders of privacy. The Foundation was launched by Moxie Marlinspike, cryptographer and long -standing defender of secure private communication, and Brian Acton, co -founder of WhatsApp.
Why do people use the signal on other text applications? Are others secure?
Many applications offer end -to -end encryption, and it is not a bad idea to use them for a privacy measure. But the signal is a stallion for private communication because it is secure by default: unless you add someone you want to say, it is very difficult for a cat to become accidentally less secure than you had planned.
This is not necessarily the case for other applications. For example, Imessage conversations are sometimes encrypted from start to finish, but only if your cat has “blue bubbles”, and they are not encrypted in the default iCloud backups. Google messages are sometimes encrypted from start to finish, but only if the cat displays a locking icon. WhatsApp is encrypted from start to finish but Record your activityIncluding “how you interact with others using our services”.
The signal is careful not to record with who you are talking to, to offer ways to reliably delete messages and keep the messages secure even in online phone backups. This objective demonstrates the advantages of an application from a non -profit organization focused on confidentiality rather than a company that considers security as a “pleasant to have” function alongside other objectives.
(Conversely, and in warning, the use of the signal facilitates the loss of accidentally of messages! Again, it is not a good choice if you are legally required to record your communication.)