Cybersecurity is more critical than ever in today's digital world. However, one commonly employed but often missed area of weakness could be something you use every day. Since Nokia made the technology available to the public in 1993, Short Message Service, or SMS messaging, has been the major way people have texted. You might be surprised to hear that it's one of the riskiest methods of mobile communication given that it's typically included by default on most mobile devices.
However, if you intend to stay safe and private, you should avoid using it. Here are five of the reasons why.
Lacklustre end-to-end encryption
SMS is not encrypted from beginning to end. SMS messages, in reality, are frequently sent as plain text. This means that there are no safeguards in place and that anyone with the necessary knowledge can intercept an SMS. If your mobile provider employs encryption, it is most likely a poor and outdated method that is only used during transit.
SMS relies on obsolete technology
SMS technology is based on a set of signalling protocols known as Signalling System No. 7 (SS7), which was established in the 1970s. It is out of date and highly insecure, making it exposed to different forms of cyberattacks. As Ars Technica reported at the time, in 2017, a hacker gang used an SS7 security hole to circumvent two-factor authentication and drained people's bank accounts. Similar attacks have taken place several times over the years.
The government can read your SMS texts
Why haven't the security flaws in SS7 been fixed? One probable explanation is that regulators are uninterested in doing so since governments all across the world eavesdrop on their citizens. Whether or not this is the true reason, it is undeniable that your government could read your SMS texts if it so desired. Law enforcement in the United States does not even require a warrant to examine correspondence older than 180 days.Congressional Representative Ted Lieu presented legislation to stop this in 2022, but it was unsuccessful.
Messages stored by your carrier
SMS texts are saved by carriers for a set period of time (the length varies depending on the carrier). Metadata, which is information on the data itself, is kept much longer. If you aren't concerned about police enforcement reading your texts, you should be aware that your mobile provider can as well. While it is true that laws, regulations, and internal rules restrict mobile providers from spying on users, unauthorised access and breaches do occur.
SMS message cannot be unsent
Unsending an SMS message is not possible. If the recipient receives it, it will remain on their phone indefinitely unless they delete it manually. It's one thing to send a terrible and embarrassing SMS, but what if the recipient's phone has been hacked or otherwise compromised? And what if you revealed personal information in an SMS that you should not have revealed? This is probably not a scenario you want to think about.
Switch from SMS to a secure messaging app
SMS should not be used by anyone who is concerned about their personal cybersecurity and wishes to safeguard their privacy. The difficulty is that it provides a level of ease that alternatives simply cannot equal, at least for the time being. However, in most cases, that is not a sufficient justification to employ it.
Secure, end-to-end encrypted messaging apps outperform SMS in practically every other way. And, if you have no other choice, use SMS wisely. Do not share information that you would not want a third party to have access to, and remember to take additional security steps.
