End-to_end Encryption Comes to Google RCS Messaging - ThreatWire
Added 2020-12-01 19:15:43 +0000 UTCBy Shannon Morse, ThreatWire
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We’ve got some good news for Android users! While I do prefer Signal for my encrypted messaging, Google is now rolling out end-to-end encryption for their RCS messaging platform, called Messages. Google will be rolling out this end-to-end encryption first to one-on-one RCS conversations between two people using the mobile Android app called Messages. It’ll be available to beta testers this month, and will continue to roll out into next year. Any conversations that are eligible for encryption will automatically upgrade to this new feature. If a recipient isn’t using an updated version of Messages, then the chat will downgrade to non-encrypted RCS or SMS.
RCS is Google’s way of replicating iMessage for iOS. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services and lets contacts get better quality media, chat over WiFi or data, share read receipts, reactions, and more dynamic options. Since Messages is now available globally, anyone using the app should be able to use encryption once they finish the rollout, with the exception of users in China and Russia.
Google made no mention about group chats, which isn’t surprising given most group chats are not encrypted as it is. According to a technical paper by Emad Omara, Google’s Technical Lead Manager of Communications Security, the tech giant is using Signals encryption protocol, which also means you can verify the public key for your recipient whenever you switch devices or do an app reinstall.
This is a great step towards making the Android user experience more secure while keeping it convenient. Now if only they can get all the different mobile carriers on board too, but this is still a work in progress.
https://blog.google/products/messages/helping-you-connect-around-world-messages/
https://www.cyberscoop.com/android-encryption-phones-google-rcs-messaging/
https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/19/21574451/android-rcs-encryption-message-end-to-end-beta
https://www.gstatic.com/messages/papers/messages_e2ee.pdf
https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-is-adding-end-to-end-encryption-to-android-messages-app/
