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   Filed under:

Signal becomes European Commission’s messaging app of choice in security
clampdown

   New, 6 comments

   It’s the recommended app for public instant messaging
   By Jon Porter@JonPorty Feb 24, 2020, 12:28pm EST

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app of choice in security clampdown


   Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

   The European Commission has told its staff to switch to the encrypted
   Signal messaging app in a move that’s designed to increase the security
   of its communications. Politico reports that, earlier this month, a
   message on the commission’s internal messaging boards notified
   employees about the change. “Signal has been selected as the
   recommended application for public instant messaging,” the message to
   the EU’s executive branch says.

   According to Politico, Signal will not be used for all communication.
   Encrypted emails will be used to send non-classified but sensitive
   information, and classified documents use tighter security measures
   still. Signal, meanwhile, is intended to be used for external
   communications between staff and people outside the organization.

   "The UK’s Conservative party also recently switched to the service"

   The initiative comes as the EU is attempting to lock down the security
   of its communications in the wake of high-profile hacks. In June 2018,
   BuzzFeed News reported that the European Union’s embassy in Moscow had
   been hacked and had information stolen from its network. Later that
   year, The New York Times reported that the EU’s diplomatic
   communications network had been hacked over the course of a three-year
   period in a display of the “remarkably poor protection” given to
   official communications.

   The European Commission is not the only governmental body to tell its
   staff to switch to Signal. Last December, The Guardian reported that
   the UK’s ruling party, the Conservatives, told its MPs to switch to the
   service from WhatsApp. At the time, there was speculation that the
   switch was done in order to take advantage of Signal’s disappearing
   messages feature to stop leaks like those the party saw while using
   WhatsApp. However, a party spokesperson claimed it was because its
   recent influx of newly elected MPs meant that it had exceeded
   WhatsApp’s maximum group size.

   Signal is generally considered to be one of the most secure messaging
   apps available. It’s open source, uses end-to-end encryption by
   default, and unlike WhatsApp, it doesn’t store any message metadata or
   use the cloud to back up messages. Edward Snowden said at one point
   that he uses it every day, and it even has the backing of one of
   WhatsApp’s original co-founders.

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