YOU should quit Facebook Messenger and use two other apps instead, a cyber expert has warned.
The hugely popular chat app has billions of users – but it’s not perfect.
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Messenger benefits from linking to your Facebook account, offering easy chat access to friends and family.
But cybersecurity expert Zak Doffman has warned against using the app.
He claims that a lack of encryption and invasions of privacy mean you’re better off using WhatsApp and Signal instead.
Doffman warns that Messenger Rooms is “part of Facebook’s data harvesting machine”.
Facebook says: “As with other parts of Facebook, we collect data from Rooms regardless of whether you joined through one of our apps or without logging into an account.”
The big complaint is that all Messenger communications aren’t encrypted by default.
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Encryption scrambles messages and calls in transit, so that only the sender and recipient can read them.
This prevents anyone – including Facebook – from reading your WhatsApp chats.
But Messenger doesn’t have the same default encryption that other apps do.
“It’s now three years since Facebook promised end-to-end encryption was coming to Messenger by default,” Doffman explained.
“Since then, we’ve seen Facebook telling users how critical such security is, even as its deployment appears to push back further and further.”
Even Facebook itself has hailed encryption.
The company has repeatedly spoken out about its plans to roll out encryption across all of its platforms – despite pressure from law enforcement and child safety organisations.
“Every day billions of people send private messages as an essential part of daily life – to check in with family and friends, talk to their child’s teacher, and even communicate with doctors,” said Facebook’s Antigone Davis last month.
“It’s why apps that use end-to-end encryption – where only the sender and recipient can access the contents of a message – are relied on by the overwhelming majority of Brits.
“To keep their private messages, and all the personal information they contain, safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals.
One of the big perks of Facebook Messenger is its ability to host Rooms with 50 people at a time.
That’s brilliant for friends during lockdowns, businesses, and other groups.
But Doffman says you’ve now got better alternatives.
“When WhatsApp expanded its fully secure video calling up to eight participants, that was a major achievement,” said Doffman.
“Signal has now raised that bar significantly – five-fold.
“It’s not as flexible as Rooms, but it’s significantly more private and secure.”
He added: “My current advice is for you to use WhatsApp as your daily messenger, given its scale, but to run Signal in parallel.”
Lack of encryption does have its upsides: it’s much easier for police to track down criminals using unencrypted apps.
But cyber experts often warn that the privacy risks of losing encryption are simply too great.
A lack of encryption allows for mass surveillance, and provides hackers with easier entry to your private messages.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
