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Harden Digital Life – Part 2: The Power of Self-Destruct Messaging
If a phone, tablet, or laptop only store 24 hours of communication then how useful is that to the enemy? In contrast, how useful are months or years of someone's private messages?
Many have their own favorite ways to communicate securely on messaging apps, but all will agree on this basic concept - encryption really works.
Encrypted messaging, storage and email provide the strongest layer of protection currently available. The more layers of protection, the more layers the surveillance state or hackers needs to overcome. This article will lay out three Apps you should consider using, one to certainly avoid, and how settings add another very crucial layer of protection.
Can Encryption be broken?
No, if encryption is honestly deployed by the provider. But if the device is already compromised by malware or sim-swapping etc. then encryption becomes redundant. See our How to not get Hacked series.
What is encryption?
Encryption changes the composition of a message to a meaningless collection of characters and symbols. Only the other individual, with your permission and the 'keys' to re-arrange can read the plaintext message correctly. This is called end-to-end encryption. Even the International Space Station communicates and data shares to earth using encrypted communication tools. There are many varieties of Encryption types and tools available.
Apps of choice and why
Signal, Wickr me, and Wire are the current secret squirrels' apps of choice because they offer solid end-to-end encryption messaging and calling, ability to register anonymously, and the option to self-destruct message. They are all free to use at basic level and work using data connection. Signal is a little trickier to register anonymously as it still requires a user's telephone number - a burner phone/number should be utilized in this case. At the time of writing VOIP numbers still work as a method for Signal registration.
Pros
- Open-Source protocol
- Self-destruct messaging
- Secure calling
- Secure video calling
- view-once media.
- Works quite well on de-googled Linux phones
Cons
- Must register using a telephone number. Caveat - Any wannabe privacy enthusiast should always have burner numbers at their reach!
Pros
- Open-Source
- Secure Calling
- Self-destruct messaging
- Integrate teams and networks
- Users describe the app as solid and reliable
Cons
- Amazon acquired, CIA invested recently - Because they know it works well and use it themselves (Yes, I hear you. but as of today, the code is fully open source)
Pros
- Open-source
- Secure calling and conference calling
- Secure video calling
- Self-destruct messaging
- File sharing
- Edward Snowden approved and Swiss owned
Cons
- Some users have noted the app can be glitchy
Points to consider
- If an App is not end-to-end encrypted then deem that message as non-private.
- If an App is not open source (free for tech geeks to code check) then deem the encryption worth as not 100% known
- Hide in plain sight. If an App is used by a select few then deem the App as questionable in authenticity (read about ANOM https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831 )
- As habit, register anonymously so bad actors would need to try harder to identify you.
- DO NOT USE WHATSAPP! It is owned by Facebook and has suffered from many past security breaches.
Settings important?
Yes, very important. Register anonymously via a username, burner email, or burner number. Use an alias name identifier, do not have the messages showing up on your home screen via the app or phone settings and to really stick it to the bad guys, set that all powerful Self-destruct messaging to one day. There are further settings available depending on the app, spend time to go through them.
Should I trust end-to-end encryption?
Yes. Every government in the world is fighting to ban end-to-end encryption or to have the power to decrypt any message they wish (impossible). A clear signal the tech is working, and they want it all shutdown. Good enough for me!
Again, if a device is hacked then all the above is meaningless. Stay tuned for our future series of articles on hacking.
Finally, it is vital that your trusted circle of friends are all on the same page. Have one fixed App for messaging by encryption and one fixed way to email by encryption (Protonmail is the only worthy choice for this as of today). Also store everything Encrypted on a local device (USB stick or hard drive).
File sharing, calling, messaging, and emailing have to be encrypted end-to-end at all times.