The FBI is Warning New Jersey iPhone and Android Users to Stop Texting
No, we shouldn't stop texting altogether.
The FBI has opened up about a recent Chinese cyber attack that is putting New Jersey cell phone users at risk.
This massive privacy breach that Newsweek is reporting has affected eight United States telecom companies.
As of this writing, the FBI is not sharing how many people have been compromised.
However, it must be enough for officials to urge New Jersey residents to be careful about how they text.
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Why are iPhone and Android users being asked not to text?
Messages are encrypted when you text from an iPhone to another iPhone and the same from an Android, making it nearly impossible for hackers and pretty much anyone to access your text messages.
iMessage provides end-to-end encryption for messages sent between iPhones, while standard SMS, which Android phones use, does not.
Therefore, when an iPhone user sends a message to an Android user or vice versa, there is far less protection.
Which free texting apps are free and use end-to-end encryption?
While this hack is being fixed, you can consider using WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Threema, Wickr Me, Wire, and Signal as free alternatives when sending a text message that isn't an iMessage or from one Android user to another.
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