After a massive cyberattack on U.S. telecom firms and dozens of countries by a hacker group backed by China, security experts are worried about communication networks and even the privacy of text messaging for individual citizens.After a recent attack on U.S. telecom companies that's being blamed on a Chinese hacking group, cybersecurity experts say people should take action to protect their text messages. At least eight U.S.
"We are constantly bombarded with concerns about phishing and email scams and malicious links," said security consultant Andrew Kirsch, a former intelligence officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service . CBC News also contacted Canada's largest cellphone providers — Bell, Rogers and Telus — to ask if their networks had been targeted and breached in the same attack. Rogers and Telus did not respond before publication.
She said security researchers have been warning for a long time that the legal "back doors" that governments use to monitor crime and espionage over landlines and cellphones can also be "exploited by unwelcome actors," leaving entire networks of users exposed. Miller said as the networks get faster and more reliable, they have also become more secure, but he notes that the security standards for the telecommunications industry required by law aren't strong enough.
However, the bureau warned against Apple users sending messages to Android users or vice versa, and instead encouraged users to send text messages through a third-party app that provides end-to-end encryption.