A lot of users still default to SMS on their smartphones. But that’s bad news for your security and privacy. Here’s why and what you can do.
Short Messaging Service (SMS) has been a staple of mobile communication since the 1990s, when it was rolled out commercially on cellular networks around the world.
With the advent of smartphones, Internet Protocol-based messaging services have become more popular, but SMS is still widely used—and that's not necessarily a good thing.
SMS is convenient and easy to use. It's present on pretty much every cell phone, and you don't even need the internet to use it. This makes a compelling case for why SMS remains popular. However, if you want to stay safe and preserve your privacy, you should not use it. Here are five reasons why.
SMS is not end-to-end encrypted. In fact, SMS messages are typically sent in plain text. This means that there are no protections in place whatsoever, and that pretty much anyone with sufficient know-how can intercept an SMS. If your mobile carrier uses some type of encryption, they most likely employ a weak and outdated algorithm, and it's only applied during transit.
SMS technology relies on a set of signaling protocols called Signaling System No. 7 (SS7), which was developed in the 1970s. It is outdated and highly insecure, making it vulnerable to various types of cyberattacks. In 2017, as Ars Technica reported at the time, a hacker group exploited a security flaw in SS7 to bypass two-factor authentication to drain people's bank accounts. Similar attacks have been recorded numerous times over the years.
Why haven't the security holes in SS7 been patched up? One possible explanation is that regulators aren't particularly interested in doing so, because governments around the world eavesdrop on their citizens. Whether this is the real reason or not, it's indisputable that your government could read your SMS messages if it wanted to. In the United States, law enforcement doesn't even need a warrant to access messages older than 180 days. Congressional representative Ted Lieu introduced a bill that would stop this in 2022, but to no avail.
SMS messages are stored by carriers for a certain period of time (the length depends on the carrier). Metadata, which concerns information about the data itself, is stored even longer. If you're not worried about law enforcement reading your messages, then you might want to know that your mobile carrier, too, can access them. While it is of course true that laws, regulations, and internal policies prevent mobile providers from spying on users, unauthorized access and breaches still occur.
It's not possible to unsend an SMS message. Once the recipient receives it, it will remain on their phone indefinitely, unless they manually delete it. Sending a regrettable and embarrassing SMS is one thing, but what if the recipient's phone is hacked or compromised in some way? And what if you've revealed in an SMS some personal information that you should not have revealed? This is probably a scenario you'd rather not contemplate.
Here's the upside: there are plenty of alternatives to SMS, and they're much safer. Here are three encrypted messaging apps you should consider using, instead of putting your data in the hands of outdated SMS technology.
Signal is arguably the best secure messaging app available today. For a start, it employs end-to-end encryption, which means that only you and the indented recipient(s) can read the messages you exchange. The contents of a message cannot be intercepted, retrieved, or accessed by anyone else—and this includes Signal.
The app, which was developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger LLC, does not collect any data. It doesn't know anything about you, and demands no access to your camera, contacts, or anything like that.
Plus, it is 100 percent free. All you have to do as a user is download it and put in your phone number.
Download: Signal for iOS | Android | Windows | MacOS
Telegram is probably the next best option if you're looking for a good alternative to SMS. Messages sent via Telegram are not end-to-end encrypted by default, but the user can turn on encryption by turning on Secret Chats. Messages from Secret Chats cannot be forwarded or accessed by anyone. This includes photos, videos, and documents, which can also be set to self-destruct after a certain period of time.
While Signal is, in many ways, no different from regular messaging apps, Telegram is rather unique. It is also a social network that you can use to participate in discussions with other people, exchange information, join groups, and so on. The company behind Telegram often adds new social features to the app, which has made it more popular in recent years.
Download: Telegram for iOS | Android | Windows | MacOS
WhatsApp is another good alternative. Yes, it's owned by Meta, the same company that owns Facebook and Instagram, and nobody is under illusions that that's a good thing. But it has one major advantage over other messaging apps: WhatsApp has a few billion active users, so it's more than likely that most of your contacts have it installed on their phone.
Despite the problematic Meta association, nothing indicates WhatsApp is unsafe. All messages sent through the chat are end-to-end encrypted, meaning nobody can access or read them. In any case, WhatsApp is much more secure than SMS, and the fact that it's enormously popular cannot be ignored. It is also free, and available on all major platforms.
Download: WhatsApp for iOS | Android | Windows | MacOS
SMS should not be an option for anyone who cares about their personal cybersecurity and wants to maintain their privacy. The problem is, it offers a level of convenience that alternatives simply cannot match, at least not for now. But that's not a good enough reason to use it, in most circumstances.
Secure, end-to-end encrypted messaging apps are superior to SMS in nearly every other way. And in situations where you have no other option, use SMS wisely. Do not share information you wouldn't want a third party to access, and remember to take other security precautions.
Damir is a freelance writer and reporter whose work focuses on cybersecurity and online privacy. Damir has a background in content writing and digital journalism, and has written for various online publications since 2017, with his work being cited by numerous think tanks and reputable media organizations. Outside of writing, Damir enjoys reading, music, and film.

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