Earlier this week, WikiLeaks put out a pretty massive leak about the CIA and their hacking tools. It was unveiled that the CIA can actually use things like your Samsung Smart TV to listen in on your conversations and such. It was also said that the CIA had been able to hack into end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Signal, and see what you’re saying and who you’re saying it too. Well that is actually not true, and this is because there has been zero evidence to show that it is true.
The deal here is that the CIA can hack devices, but not the messaging apps themselves. Which is a far different thing altogether. And as Edward Snowden had mentioned on Twitter already, the fact that the CIA has to hack vulnerable devices like smartphones and tablets, means that they have not had luck compromising apps like Signal and WhatsApp. The New York Times also mentions that the biggest revelation to come out of this WikiLeaks dump is just how secure these encrypted messaging apps truly are. The CIA has also not mentioned any of these apps in their documentation, which is further proof that the apps themselves have not been compromised. Instead the CIA has had to resort to compromising each device one by one. Which is a pretty daunting task to think about, considering each device is different and secured in a different way.
Many people weren’t happy with the news that the CIA is spying on everyone, including using their own TV to listen in on what people are saying (even when the TV is “off”), but this is what the CIA has to do to protect Americans and the country. It’s not something that people like to think about, but it is a necessary evil. Especially with terrorist groups using messaging apps to communicate with each other, and recruit new people to their group. But the news here is that your favorite encrypted messaging apps have not been compromised, and likely won’t be anytime soon. So you can rest easy and continue using WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger or any other encrypted messaging app.