Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Rumors about a Signal hack are untrue.
- The messaging platform has stated that it’s a target of a coordinated misinformation campaign.
- The service is still perfectly safe to use.
Secure messaging platform Signal has taken to Twitter to announce that it has not been compromised. Rumors bout the service being hacked are false. It also said that the app has seen an uptick in usage across Eastern Europe at the back of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“Signal is not hacked. We believe these rumors are part of a coordinated misinformation campaign meant to encourage people to use less secure alternatives,” the company stated in a tweet.
“These rumors are often attributed to official government sources and read ‘attacks on Signal platform.’ This is false and Signal is not under attack,” the platform clarified.
Signal’s statement comes after a number of cyberattacks plagued the Ukrainian banking sector and government websites.
The misinformation about Signal also follows founder Moxie Marlinspike’s recent comments about rival Telegram on Twitter.
Condemning the messaging app, Marlinspike said, “Telegram is the most popular messenger in urban Ukraine. After a decade of misleading marketing and press, most people there believe it’s an encrypted app. The reality is the opposite — TG is by default a cloud database w/ a plaintext copy of every msg everyone has ever sent/received.”
There is some truth to Marlinspike’s words. Telegram chats aren’t encrypted, except for the “secret chats” within the service. On the other hand, Signal offers end-to-end encryption for all messages just like WhatsApp.
