Cybersecurity
FBI Warning: Be careful when texting between iPhones and Android phones
FBI warns of massive cyberattack and dangers of texting between iOS and Android phones. Here’s what the agency recommends to avoid message interception.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have warned of a massive cyberattack against major U.S. telecommunications providers, including AT&T and Verizon.
The cyberattack has reportedly been attributed to the Chinese-affiliated group known as Salt Typhoon. The country’s embassy has denied being behind the attack that compromised confidential customer call records and stole data related to government and political activities.
“Threat actors affiliated with the Chinese government have compromised telecommunications providers’ networks to conduct a cyber espionage campaign," the agency shared on social media.
"Network defenders should read new guidance from the FBI and our partners to harden their systems against this activity.”
New guidance shared by the FBI, CISA, and other agencies provides practical steps to identify anomalies, address vulnerabilities, and respond to incidents. The FBI also issued a warning and recommendations to users.
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FBI Warning: Be careful when texting between iPhones and Android phones
At a press conference, a senior FBI official who asked not to be identified and Jeff Greene, CISA’s deputy executive director for cybersecurity, both recommended using encrypted messaging apps to minimize the chances of the attackers intercepting communications, especially when sending messages between iPhones, iOS phones, and Android phones using RCS.
“Our suggestion, what we’ve told people internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it’s text messaging or whether you have the ability to use encrypted voice communications. Even if the adversary can intercept the data, if it’s encrypted, it’s going to be impossible,” Greene said, according to NBC News.
On the other hand, the anonymous FBI official said that to minimize the danger it is important for users to have a phone that automatically receives operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication for email accounts, social networks and other tools.
Apps like Apple Messages, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram have end-to-end encryption.
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