Signal, the messaging app through which the editor -in -chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, has obtained data on the attacking plans of the United States in Yemen, is that of reference for the privacy of conversations between security professionals.
Created in 2010 with the name of TextSecure by the computer security specialist Moxie Marlinspike and from the robotic expert Stuart Anderson, he developed his first version for Android in 2015, the year in which he obtained considerable attention thanks to Edward Snowden.
The former CIA consultant who made documents transpired that felt the espionage conducted on the communications of US citizens declared on Twitter that Signal was his favorite apps for communications and praised his safety.
Like WhatsApp and Telegram, it is free and available all over the world and, like these, allows you to send messages, documents or keep audio conversations, even group videos.
However, it presents some differences and the most important is the company’s end-to-end encryption method, ‘Open Whispers System’, which allows you to send messages encrypted by the sender (computer or telephone) and not to decryst them until they reach the recipient. A method has obtained awards from numerous publications and organizations dedicated to IT security.
Signal is an independent and non -profit organization, not affiliated to any large technological company and is an open source application, which allows any developer to contribute, improving its performance.
Finally, the app uses a system that wanders censorship (some countries, such as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have tried to block it because they could not access its content) that works by disguising the messages so that the internet providers cannot distinguish between the communications of Signal and a simple research query. Thanks to these characteristics, it has become the most used messaging app by institutions, companies and governments of numerous countries. Since February 2020 it is the recommended app to the European Commission staff and, according to the director of The Atlantic, it is also the one used by the Trump Administration.