Signal is an application for secure encrypted communication. In the competition of dozens of similar communicators, it stands out with its focus on user safety. It allows them to securely write and call each other. In addition, you can use the application on your desktop and it speaks Czech!
The article was taken with permission from the SSLmarket.cz blog , which has been dedicated to encryption for a long time, educates in the field of security and brings news from the field of SSL certificates . Follow him on Facebook or Twitter .
A secure version of Facebook Messenger
We recently published a tutorial on using encrypted messages in Messenger on this blog . Thanks to them, you can send encrypted messages with a counterpart with a temporary validity; after it expires, they will disappear and not even Facebook will read them. Signal is a safer (and functionally simpler) replacement for Messenger.
Signal is gaining popularity due to the high demand for secure
communication. I mean End-to-end encryption between both communicating parties, not just the usual encryption of data during transmission between phones and the operator’s server. Encryption of data transmission does not solve the further handling of the data “at the destination” – i.e. at the provider. You can also access conversations in the provider’s database and in the phone’s memory. Signal solves these risks with the aforementioned encryption between users, so that even the service provider does not read the messages. Signal uses its own protocol, and details about the encryption algorithm used can be found on the manufacturer’s website .
The app traces its roots back to 2010 at Whisper Systems, when the first precursor to the RedPhone calling and messaging app TextSecure came out. Whisper Systems subsequently bought Twitter and discontinued the RedPhone service. Although Twitter released both programs as Opensource, the founder of Marlinspike left and in 2013 founded a new company, Open Whisper Systems, in which he continued to develop both mentioned programs. She now develops the Signal program and runs the website signal.org .
In addition to text communication
Signal can also make calls. When you first start it, it will register your phone number as a user ID that other Signal users can call (see below). Signal will probably be able to communicate with other popular thailand phone number data applications – the aforementioned Messenger, Google Allo and WhatsApp. Messenger used Signal’s communication protocol, and its creators will try to achieve cooperation between the mentioned applications.
The application interface is simple. After starting, it will ask you for your phone number, which will serve as an identifier (username). After confirming the number, you will (maybe) see some of your contacts. If you don’t see the contact you want to write to, search for them by phone number.
You start the conversation by tapping the new message icon (on iOS at the top right, on Android the pencil enhanced measurement events at the bottom right). Conversations will be sorted in a list above each other, just like you know from Messenger. In the details of the conversation, you can see the option to call (voice call), write a message and send an attachment (you can add a photo or make a new one). Click on the username to by lists view the details of the user you are communicating with.