Get the Facts: Are your text messages actually secure?
Messages between iPhones and Androids are not secure and could be intercepted by hackers, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI says hackers in China are stealing and collecting insecure messages as part of a persistent espionage campaign.
Ragib Hasan, the director of the Center for Cybersecurity at UAB, says any messages between iPhones and Androids are vulnerable to falling into the wrong hands.
"If they manage to hack into the carrier system, there's a risk these cross-platform messages may be intercepted and read because they are not end-to-end encrypted," Hasan says.
Hasan says messages between just iPhones are end-to-end encrypted.
The same goes for messages between Androids.
However, messaging between the two is not end-to-end encrypted because they are crossing different platforms, making them vulnerable to hackers.
Many users have started seeing RCS when sending a text. Hasan says it is a more secure messaging channel designed to replace SMS and has been adopted by Google.
The latest iOS update for iPhones now supports RCS as well. However, Hasan says this is giving people a false sense of security.
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"Since the systems are separate, you no longer have the security features of RCS when you message between iPhones and Androids," Hasan says.
Hasan and the FBI recommend using other messaging apps to communicate between iPhones and Androids.
Hasan says messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal are secure.
The FBI is asking all Americans to take this warning seriously.