Signal says it is 'gold standard' for encrypted messaging, despite claims of vulnerabilities
As reports continue to come out about President Donald Trump's administration’s use of Signal, the company issued a statement Tuesday to clear the air, saying its software is "the gold standard for private, secure communications."
On Monday, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief revealed that he was inadvertently included on a messaging chain of senior Trump officials that discussed plans for a forthcoming strike on the Houthis in Yemen.
The report has been harshly criticized, with news outlets like NPR reporting that "a vulnerability" was identified in the messenger application, suggesting Russian professional hacking groups employ devices to spy on encrypted conversations.
In response to NPRs report, Signal said the claim that there are "vulnerabilities" in Signal is not accurate.
"The memo used the term ‘vulnerability’ in relation to Signal—but it had nothing to do with Signal’s core tech. It was warning against phishing scams targeting Signal users," the statement read. "Phishing isn’t new, and it’s not a flaw in our encryption or any of Signal’s underlying technology. Phishing attacks are a constant threat for popular apps and websites.
"In order to help protect people from falling victim to sophisticated phishing attacks, Signal introduced new user flows and in-app warnings," the statement continued. "This work has been completed for some time and is unrelated to any current events.
"Signal is open source, so our code is regularly scrutinized in addition to regular formal audits," Signal added. "We also constantly monitor security@signal.org for any new reports, and we act on them with quickness while also working to protect the people who rely on us from outside threats like phishing with warnings and safeguards. This is why Signal remains the gold standard for private, secure communications."
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Signal is an encrypted messaging app that operates similarly to texting or making phone calls, but with additional security measures that help ensure communications are kept private to those included in the correspondence.