Signal, The (Controversial) App Created With Help From WhatsApp's Founder

The application is equipped with encryption but can still be used in ‘phishing’ attacks.

Signal is one of the most talked about messaging apps at the moment, a popularity that owes much to the recent controversy with senior Trump administration officials who exchanged confidential information in a chat group including a journalist.

But what is Signal really? Is it a safe app? How reliable is the included encryption technology? Well, we're here to explain it all to you.

As with other equally or more popular applications, Signal is equipped with end-to-end encryption - which means that it is not possible to access communications between two people, be they messages or voice calls. What's more, the Associated Press notes that Signal's encryption protocol is the same one used by WhatsApp, and since it's turned on as soon as you install and start using the app, you won't have to worry about turning on any settings.

This attention to security is, in fact, at the heart of the creation of Signal and the entity responsible for it - the Signal Technology Foundation. This non-profit organization was founded in 2018 and, as can be read on its website, states that its mission is to “protect freedom of expression and ensure secure global communication through open source privacy technology.”

There are other features to know if you're interested in Signal. Message groups have a limit of 1,000 people (in WhatsApp it's 1,024) and users can create messages that self-destruct after a certain amount of time has passed (a feature that is also present in WhatsApp).

It is worth noting, however, that like other messaging apps, Signal is vulnerable to certain types of cyberattacks, such as phishing attacks. Rather than looking for vulnerabilities in computer systems, this type of attack seeks to trick people - through fraudulent emails or text messages - into sharing sensitive data. In this way, Signal can be used to carry out this type of cyberattack, and users are advised to exercise caution to ensure that they always know who they are talking to.

As a curiosity, it is worth noting that the Signal Technology Foundation was founded not only by entrepreneur and cryptography expert Matthew Rosenfeld (also known as Moxie Marlinspike), but also by Brian Acton - one of the founders of WhatsApp who in September 2017 left the company which, at the time, was already owned by Meta.