An expert believes that Facebook Messenger endangers the privacy of users. He regrets that the application does not offer end-to-end encryption by default and recommends alternatives.
Steven Walker, CEO of Spylix, a firm specializing in the development of child monitoring software, strongly advises uninstall facebook messenger. Questioned by The Sun, the leader considered that the instant messaging application represents a danger.
“To the surprise of many, Facebook Messenger is one of the very few such apps that iPhone users should never install on their devices. It’s so popular that people might not consider it a problematic app”, says Steven Walker. Latest news, Messenger counts over 1.3 billion users worldwidemaking it the 2nd most popular instant messenger behind WhatsApp.
No end-to-end encryption?
The CEO of Spylix justifies his statements by pointing the finger the lack of end-to-end encryption on Messenger. It is a communication system that ensures that only the sender and receiver can access messages, calls or conversations. To scramble access to data exchanged online, it is necessary to go through an encryption protocol. In the absence of such a protocol, Walker believes that “Anyone can keep track of conversations between two people”. In view “security issues, I suggest not to install it”summarizes Steven Walker.
The expert’s assertions need to be qualified. Since the start of the year, Facebook Messenger has made it possible to encrypt end-to-end conversations, audio and video calls in groups. After several years of experimentation, the American social network has finally rolled out the feature to all users. It is therefore incorrect to say that Messenger does not have end-to-end encryption.
However, the encryption protocol is not enabled by default on Messenger. You must manually activate an option within the interface. Concretely, you have to tick an icon in the form of a padlock before each conversation. Attention, it is imperative to start the operation again as soon as you exchange with a loved one.
Alternatives to Facebook Messenger
Conversely, most instant messaging applications encrypt your conversations by default. This is probably why Steven Walker recommends opting “for alternatives that offer better security options”.
Among the main alternatives are WhatsApp, the other messaging app owned by Meta, Facebook’s parent company. All your conversations are indeed encrypted using the Signal Protocol cryptographic protocol. As the name suggests, this is the same protocol used by Signal, a competing application. Let us also quote Telegramthe application that protects your exchanges thanks to the Russian MTProto protocol, or even Olvida French courier.
Aware of its shortcomings, Facebook Messenger is committed to enable encryption by default in the near future. The American group has hinted that the protocol will be implemented in the course of 2023. “ We’re taking our time to get it right and we don’t expect to complete the global rollout of end-to-end encryption by default on all our email services until 2023,” declared Antigone Davis, global head of security at Meta, last November.
The Sun
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