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FBI Urges iPhone, Android Users to Stop Sending Texts—Before It’s Too Late

In a strange twist, the FBI has issued a warning to iPhone and Android users: we want you to switch from texting to using end-to-end encrypted messaging apps.

The FBI is now recommending that you use messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal instead of text messaging on your phone due to ongoing threats of Chinese hackers breaching big telecommunications company data.

Confirmed targets are AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

See for yourself:

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Politico provided some context, reporting on a large-scale wave of Chinese hackers targeting American telecom companies:

The federal government began investigating a major Chinese breach of global telecommunications systems in the spring, officials said Tuesday, and warned that the intrusion is “ongoing” and likely larger in scale than previously understood.

The hack was first announced publicly in October and has been attributed by U.S. agencies to a Chinese government-linked hacking group known as Salt Typhoon. The effort targeted dozens of telecom companies in the U.S. and globally to gain access to U.S. political leaders and national security data.

The timeline of the hacking effort, as well as the scope of the intrusion, was not previously disclosed.

Jeff Greene, executive assistant director of cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and a senior FBI official said Tuesday that while agencies started cooperating on their investigations of Salt Typhoon’s activities in early October, the effort was first detected in “late spring and early summer.” He also warned that the breach is “ongoing” and that there was much law enforcement still did not know.

“We cannot say with certainty that the adversary has been evicted,” Greene said. “We’re on top of tracking them down … but we cannot with confidence say that we know everything, nor would our partners.”

Greene strongly urged Americans to “use your encrypted communications where you have it,” adding that “we definitely need to do that, kind of look at what it means long-term, how we secure our networks.” As many as 80 telecommunications companies and internet service providers, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, are believed to have been infiltrated in the hack.

Forbes gave some more details on the FBI’s suggestion that Americans use encrypted messaging apps:

Timing is everything. Just as Apple’s adoption of RCS had seemed to signal a return to text messaging versus the unstoppable growth of WhatsApp, then along comes a surprising new hurdle to stop that in its tracks. While messaging Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone is secure, messaging from one to the other is not.

Now even the FBI and CISA, the U. S. cyber defense agency, are warning Americans to use responsibly encrypted messaging and phone calls where they can. The backdrop is the Chinese hacking of U. S. networks that is reportedly “ongoing and likely larger in scale than previously understood.” Fully encrypted comms is the best defense against this compromise, and Americans are urged to use that wherever possible.

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The network cyberattacks, attributed to Salt Typhoon, a group associated with China’s Ministry of Public Security, has generated heightened concern as to the vulnerabilities within critical U.S. communication networks. The reality is different. Without fully end-to-end encrypted messaging and calls, there has always been a potential for content to be intercepted. That’s the entire reason Apple, Google and Meta advise its use, highlighting the fact that even they can’t see content.

According to a senior FBI official, “within the investigative activity, especially one this significant and this large, the facts will evolve over time… The continued investigation into the PRC targeting commercial telecom infrastructure has revealed a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign.” This campaign, he warned, “identified that PRC affiliated cyber actors have compromised networks of multiple telecom companies to enable multiple activities,” confirming that “the FBI began investigating this activity in late spring and early summer of this year.”

The FBI official warned that citizens should be “using a cell phone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing resistant MFA for email, social media and collaboration tool accounts.”

So, what’s up with this, FBI?

Why the sudden shift in stance?

I can’t be the only one who is a little suspicious.

What are your thoughts?

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