
The security of communication and the protection of personal data can affect everyone at any time. We use messengers to share the most private and sensitive information. In this article, we have collected 12 instant messengers that care about protecting your private data and security.
The Most Secure Messengers
Experts assessed the current technical state of software products, tested protection tools and tools declared by the developers to ensure secure messaging. The test checklist included more than 30 applications for various platforms, which were evaluated by 50 criteria. Only messengers with end-to-end encryption, which are able to provide a really high level of protection of transmitted data, passed the final round of testing. It was conducted with a focus on the quality of data encryption and the reliability of information security tools. The study involved specialists and developers of software solutions with expertise in the field of data security.
Experts have divided the list into two categories – for personal and corporate use. Messengers, which were included in the list of the “Best for Business” are able to provide the highest level of security.
The top three safest messengers include Signal, Wickr, and Softros. The Signal messenger continues to receive high praise from experts for the quality of encryption protocols, two-factor authentication, encryption by default, and readiness to disclose personal data. Elon Musk’s calls to switch to Signal look reasonable. Final TOP-12 applications are the following:
- Briar
- Telegram
- Signal
- Wire
- Threema
- Softros
- Ricochet
- aTalk
- Session
- Adamant
- Safe Text
- Status
Experts do not recommend using Facebook messengers for business correspondence or sending private information. Line also dropped out of the list of the best messengers, as it does not meet the criteria for safe messengers anymore. Its place was taken by Slack, which experts confidently recommend for secure corporate correspondence.
How to Choose a Messenger Yourself?
The usability of the messenger is not the primary factor of importance. It is essential for modern users to know and be confident in the security of the program they are using. The security of data transmission is evaluated by several key factors:
- Availability of the anonymous registration – in this case, you simply indicate the phone number or email. You should not log in through social networks, otherwise, all data will be automatically uploaded to the server.
- Protection of the social graph – this option allows to collect the information about calls and contacts of each user.
- E2EE protocol – it serves for the security of information that is transmitted between users.
- FOSS is a free source code that hackers can easily access to steal information. It is crucial that the data transfer takes place over encrypted channels.
Today there are a lot of instant messengers that people use in different parts of the world. But how do you know which one will be the safest and most convenient? We believe that the list given above can provide you with the safest communication means in the market. So, feel free to choose any of them for secure communication.