Friday, February 5, 2021 – 02:59
If we were to talk about this 2 years ago, it would have been something that no one would have expected. Those who kept their distance, washed their hands, and wore masks in 2019 would have thought that everyone was “sick”. After 2 years, this is normal. Anyone who didn’t do it would be looked down on. Another thing that used to be considered bad and dangerous is “Sex phone”. But during this time, Sex phone might be something that can save your life. Because infection can be transmitted from being close to each other, making rhythmic activities one of the forbidden activities during the COVID era immediately. Many couples have solved the problem by video calling each other to relieve loneliness. Even though we are far apart, we don’t feel distant. However, many couples must be thinking in their heads that is it safe to call each other? Is anyone spying? Or will our clips be leaked to social media? Let’s see which applications we use are safe and which are not safe. Which functions should be enabled to be more secure? I believe that many people who video call each other for Sex phone do it via their mobile phones. Because of the position, convenience in changing places or looking at different angles, using a desktop computer to do it is not very common. In addition to being used for conference calls or online learning, the admin will write tips and recommended applications only for mobile phones.
First of all, check carefully whether the person you are talking to is trustworthy or not, how long have you been together, have you met in person, is he disguising himself as someone else, does he put a profile picture of someone other than himself, and does he record a video while you are on the call? Most of the time, the leaked clips are the person on the call, not someone else hacking and watching while you are on the call, which is quite difficult to do. If we are sure that the person on the call is not harmful, we can go to the next point.
2. Go check the settings in each app. Privacy settings, whichever ones allow too many permissions, can be unchecked, such as “Sharing data to improve the experience”, which mostly gives our information to advertising companies or data companies to advertise to us, or settings that allow our friends or other people to find us, add us without us knowing. These will prevent people who impersonate people we know and pretend to talk to us. After checking each app, go check the settings or device settings and see how much permission each app has to access our data, such as location, photos, camera, microphone (these two must be enabled for the app that we will be making a video call with, otherwise, we can’t make a call). If it’s okay, you can go to the next step.
3. Set passwords for everything you can to prevent others from accessing your app data. Sometimes, there may be information in the app that hints at your password, so be safe first.
4. We’ve gone to such lengths, we thought we’d get away with it. But something as simple as our face, which is easy evidence, can make people remember us. Just by wearing a mask, disguising our face, or taking a photo where our face isn’t visible, it can help a lot. Another thing is that our room, our background, has become something that lets other people know where we are. Nowadays, Detective Conan can know where we are just from the items in our room. If anyone has Netflix, I recommend watching Don’t F&*k with the Cats. It’s a documentary about a movie in which Detective Conan hunts down a cat killer online from the internet trail that the killer created. For example, the vacuum cleaner the killer used to kill the cat can be found in Canada and when it was sold. This allows us to tell what era the killer is from and if he lives in Canada. Therefore, we should call in a place with an empty background where we can see as few items as possible. And if you’re really afraid that someone will take it, it would be better to wear a mask to disguise your face.
5. Now that we have reached this point, we can do nothing but choose. From the apps we use, not all apps are always safe. Let's see which apps have the best security systems. 1. Signal - An app that everyone talks about, even Elon Musk recommends using. Because in addition to the European Parliament recommending it, the app also hides metadata (Metadata is detailed information that describes the background of the data, such as when the photo was taken, what model the device was used for, where it was sent from, which is usually attached to the photo, video, and message) plus End-to-End Encryption means that the entire message, audio, and video call will be encrypted, so only our side and their side can see it. Someone who tries to hack into the middle to see the call will not be able to see it because this key code is only on both devices. This makes the messages, images, location, or video calls even more secure. And most importantly, it is an open-source application made by a non-profit organization, making it safe from profiteering from our personal information like other applications. 2. LINE - An app that we are familiar with and use every day. In addition to being easy to use and everyone has it, It is also safe because LINE uses End-to-End Encryption, which LINE calls its own encryption "Letter Sealing". Normally, LINE will enable it automatically, but if we want to be sure, we can go to the 3 lines on the top right-hand side of our conversation partner and look at the bottom. If it says "This chat is protected with Letter Sealing", it means that it is encrypted and safe. But if it says Not protected with Letter Sealing, go to Settings, go to Privacy, and press the Letter Sealing button. The admin recommends leaving it enabled at all times. Because in addition to video calls, general chats should also be protected. 3. Facetime - It goes without saying how heavily Apple advertises privacy. It can be said that it has been their selling point for the past few years. It even went so far as to not allow the FBI to give the password to enter the terrorist's iPhone 5C, which became big news. The Facetime app has End-to-End Encryption that only you and the other party can see the messages or video calls. And since Apple is a company that focuses on selling, not advertising, like Google or Facebook, they have no interest in accessing our personal information. And as mentioned earlier, Apple has also included it as a key policy in designing their products. 4. Whatsapp – An app that many people should have if they have foreign friends or keep it during the time when the chat app market was growing and everyone was trying out every app. It was one of the first apps to use End-to-End Encryption and it is said that the protocol used for encryption (Open Whisper Signal Protocol) is one of the best encryption methods in the world. However, recently, Facebook, the owner of the app, has started sharing some data (not chat messages or calls) to advertise when entering Facebook or Instagram, so it is ranked later. 5. Telegram – One of the famous apps that everyone downloaded during the protests because they were afraid of government surveillance. Little did they know that the chats were actually secure only when we switched to “Secret Chats” mode. And the End-to-End Encryption that the app used (MTProto Protocol) is still a concern for cybersecurity experts. And if you don’t use “Secret Chats” mode, Telegram only encrypts at the transport level. Furthermore, it does not store the encryption key on the destination device. But on Telegram's server, it means that hackers may have the chance to get our message encryption key to read our messages, which is less secure than all the apps mentioned earlier. 6. Facebook Messenger - Although Facebook has recently been heavily scrutinized for sharing data with other companies for advertising purposes, Facebook has added a "Secret Conversations" feature similar to Telegram and uses the Open Whisper Systems Signal Protocol encryption as well, which is quite secure. But we have to enable this mode ourselves every time. 7. Instagram - It is one of the apps used to view and upload photos, and sometimes we greet people we follow to say that the photos we took are beautiful or where we have been. But it is not used as a main chat app or even for video calls. And it is a good thing that it is not like that because the encryption of this app is only at the transport level and Facebook itself does not have the idea to focus on this feature much. Therefore, End-to-End Encryption has not arrived yet. The admin would not recommend calling through this app. 8. Zoom - One of the meeting apps that many schools, companies, and organizations have widely used after the Covid outbreak. But the ease of use of the app is also full of security issues. Whether it's Zoom bombing where people guess the meeting ID and join the meeting without being invited, or the lack of End-to-End Encryption, making it one of the riskier apps. But we can make it safer by going to the Zoom website (not on the mobile app or the desktop app, only on the browser) and going to Setting > Meeting tab under Security, there will be a section that says Allow use of end-to-end encryption. Click to turn it on and Zoom will ask us to send an OTP code to our number to confirm. Then it can be used. Do both sides to be safe for both parties. Then you can be sure that you won't be hacked via Zoom. There are quite a few steps to be sure. Having read this far, you have become an expert in chat program security. But it's for our own peace of mind and to protect yourself and your loved ones.
by Kasintorn Honglawan
Information from: www.engadget.com/how-to-secure-your-video-calls-like-a-pro-190046885.html | electrons.co/video-calls-safe-or-not/ | iol.co.za/technology/mobile/top-5-most-secure-video-calling-apps-47892997
Images from: signal.org/en | whatsapp.com | line.me/en | telegram.org | support.apple.com | messenger.com | instagram.com | zoom.us
