Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
  • Home
  • Startup
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
    • Branding
    • Business Ideas
    • Business Models
    • Business Plans
    • Fundraising
  • Growing a Business
  • More
    • Innovation
    • Leadership
Trending

Dana White’s Huge Jon Jones Announcement Makes 3 Things Very Clear

June 22, 2025

Why New Tax Rules Could Be a Game Changer for Your Business

June 22, 2025

Take These 3 Steps to Shorten Your Sales Cycle

June 22, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Newsletter
  • Submit Articles
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
  • Home
  • Startup
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
    • Branding
    • Business Ideas
    • Business Models
    • Business Plans
    • Fundraising
  • Growing a Business
  • More
    • Innovation
    • Leadership
Subscribe for Alerts
Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
Home » FBI Hacking Warning—More Bad News For iPhone, Android Users
Innovation

FBI Hacking Warning—More Bad News For iPhone, Android Users

adminBy adminDecember 16, 20240 ViewsNo Comments4 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

This month has been marked by the extraordinary revelations that Chinese state-linked hackers have been marauding through U.S. networks, harvesting user call and text metadata and in some cases their content as well. The result—an unprecedented warning from the FBI for Android and iPhone users to stop sending texts.

The backdrop to this story has been the equally unprecedented iPhone messaging update that has finally brought RCS to Apple’s billion-plus users. While Google has hailed this as “no more blurry photos,” that has been quickly overtaken by events. I highlighted RCS’s security weaknesses before, during and after Apple’s release, but now the FBI has ensured that everyone is fully aware that’s the case.

The defense has been that an end-to-end encrypted RCS update is coming soon. But the new bad news for Android and iPhone users is that this security update is not going to be seen anytime soon. “Work with key industry stakeholders is progressing well,” according to a GSMA spokesperson cited by CNBC, “and we look forward to updating the market in the coming months.” The italics are mine.

This has been painted as surprisingly bad news. “Despite [the] FBI Warning, RCS encryption could take months,” reported PC Mag, while Android Authority warned “Android and Apple users—critical RCS messaging protection is still months away despite FBI warning.” All of which means, explained Tom’s Guide, that “Apple and Android users… should look to other chat apps to communicate.”

In reality, this is entirely expected. As I reported when GSMA and Google first touted an end-to-end encrypted RCS update in September, “unless this is already in test, I wouldn’t be holding my breath, waiting for it to turn up anytime soon.”

If you actually look at what happened post Apple’s launch as regards this RCS security upgrade, it came across as reactive. There was plenty of criticism over the lack of cross-platform security, to which GSMA responded by suddenly announcing “the next major milestone is for the RCS Universal Profile to add important user protections such as interoperable end-to-end encryption… the first deployment of standardized, interoperable messaging encryption between different computing platforms, addressing significant technical challenges.”

Google added its voice into the mix: “We believe that E2EE is a critical component of secure messaging, and we have been working with the broader ecosystem to bring cross-platform E2EE to RCS chats as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Apple said nothing.

If this was a collaboration between Apple and Google to bridge iMessage and Google Messages, it would take months. But it’s not. It’s an update to the core RCS protocol itself, and so it will mandate changes throughout its architecture. It will need to be tested and then find its way into a limited beta, then a full beta, before becoming generally available in an OS release. iOS 19 is at the earliest?

Don’t hold your collective breath for this to fix the Salt Typhoon problem.

Google Messages was slow to adopt end-to-end encryption itself, only adding this into the mix once it had wrestled control of the RCS rollout from the carriers. And then it was deployed piece by piece, which took considerable time.

And these “months” will prove expensive, because Americans have been urged to use encrypted platforms where possible by federal agencies. WhatsApp has already been building a head of steam in the U.S., making this latest news a gift for Meta.

Apple has been quiet throughout this process and hasn’t said much on RCS, other than to warn that it’s not secure. “Apple’s implementation of RCS is based on the industry’s standard. RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they’re not protected from a third-party reading them while they’re sent between devices.”

It’s not clear what happens now or when it happens, but in the meantime, if you haven’t already switched to a secure messenger, then do so now. There’s still time for Apple and Google to take control of this situation, as they did during covid, but there’s no signs of that happening yet. And the clock is ticking…

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Articles

Dana White’s Huge Jon Jones Announcement Makes 3 Things Very Clear

Innovation June 22, 2025

Extra Clues And Answers For Today’s Game

Innovation June 21, 2025

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — What Brands Need To Know

Innovation June 20, 2025

How ‘Jaws’ Sank Shark Conservation Before It Began

Innovation June 19, 2025

The Death Of Privacy And The Radical Reshaping Of A Political System

Innovation June 18, 2025

Nat Geo’s ‘Underdogs’ Turns Weird Wildlife Into Must-See TV

Innovation June 17, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Editors Picks

Dana White’s Huge Jon Jones Announcement Makes 3 Things Very Clear

June 22, 2025

Why New Tax Rules Could Be a Game Changer for Your Business

June 22, 2025

Take These 3 Steps to Shorten Your Sales Cycle

June 22, 2025

I’m So Glad My Company Never Went Viral — Here’s Why

June 22, 2025

This AI Model Never Stops Learning

June 22, 2025

Latest Posts

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — What Brands Need To Know

June 20, 2025

What Is ‘Doom Spending’ and Which Generation Falls for It?

June 20, 2025

How to Build a Tech-Forward Company That Lasts

June 20, 2025

Still Saying ‘I’ll Just Do It’? That’s Why You’re Stuck

June 20, 2025

Companies Warn SEC That Mass Deportations Pose Serious Business Risk

June 20, 2025
Advertisement
Demo

Startup Dreamers is your one-stop website for the latest news and updates about how to start a business, follow us now to get the news that matters to you.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube
Sections
  • Growing a Business
  • Innovation
  • Leadership
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
Trending Topics
  • Branding
  • Business Ideas
  • Business Models
  • Business Plans
  • Fundraising

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and startup news and updates directly to your inbox.

© 2025 Startup Dreamers. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Press Release
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

GET $5000 NO CREDIT