The FBI and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) have decided to issue a warning to both Android and iOS users who text each other. Yes, this is related to RCS (Rich Communication Services), and it’s Apple’s fault, basically.
FBI has decided to issue a warning to Android & iOS users who text each other
Why? Well, the version of the RCS protocol that Apple supports does not include end-to-end encryption. So you’re all good to go if you text other Android users via RCS, as end-to-end encryption is supported. The same cannot said for iOS devices.
Now, this is not a big deal for most people, but if you’re that worried about encryption, you may want to use other means of messaging until this gets sorted. We do hope that Apple will change this moving forward. The fact end-to-end encryption is not supported does leave room for hackers to operate.
Considering how worried the US is about Chinese hackers probing into US networks, this is even more in focus than ever. Usage of end-to-end encrypted messaging apps is highly recommended at the moment.
There are quite a few messaging apps out there that support text messaging
There are a ton of messaging apps out there that support end-to-end encryption. WhatsApp is one of them, and the same goes for Telegram, Signal, and Messenger. These are just some options for you.
Apple was definitely not in a rush to offer RCS support at all, so we’re not sure how long will it take to upgrade its RCS protocol. Once and if Apple does that, you’ll get cross-platform end-to-end encryption for RCS.
This is a perfect time for the government to put pressure on Apple to do it, though. Considering how important it is to have end-to-end encryption these days, and how popular Android and iOS are… it may not be a bad idea. Let’s wait and see what will happen.
