Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert on Thursday advising New Yorkers to safeguard their privacy when using mobile phone messaging apps. The alert follows recent warnings from the FBI and other federal agencies about coordinated attacks on U.S. telecom networks that may have allowed hackers to intercept text messages.
“New Yorkers expect that their private text messages will be protected,” Attorney General James said in a statement. “As we face a warning of coordinated attacks on our wireless networks, every New Yorker should be informed about this situation and empowered with the information they need to keep themselves safe and their messages private.”
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is encouraging residents to take proactive steps to protect their data, particularly by using messaging apps that offer encryption. Encryption scrambles messages to make them unreadable during transmission, ensuring they can only be decrypted and read by the intended recipient.
Attorney General James outlined several key tips to help New Yorkers protect their privacy:
- Understand SMS vulnerabilities: Standard text messaging, or SMS, is not encrypted. If hackers gain access to a telecom provider’s network, they could intercept and read these messages.
- Use encrypted messaging apps: Consider switching to messaging apps that offer end-to-end encryption. Before selecting an app, review its data policies, including what information it collects, such as location or profile pictures, and whether that data is also encrypted.
- Avoid sharing sensitive information via text: Do not send sensitive data such as account numbers, medical information, or private photos over text. Be wary of any requests to share this type of information.
This alert comes amid heightened concerns about the security of telecom networks and the privacy risks associated with unencrypted messaging. By adopting encrypted communication tools and following these guidelines, consumers can reduce the risk of unauthorized access to their personal information.
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