If you are a Signal user and have heard the rumors about Signal being hacked that are now circulating on social media, you are undoubtedly concerned about your personal data. But rest assured: according to Signal, the service hasn’t been hacked at all, and your data is safe (via Android Authority). In a post on Twitter, Signal stated that it knows about the rumors that it was hacked and declared that the rumors are false and that Signal was not hacked. Although Signal posted on Twitter, Signal also knows that these rumors are circulating on other platforms as well.
We’ve had an uptick in usage in Eastern Europe & rumors are circulating that Signal is hacked & compromised. This is false. Signal is not hacked. We believe these rumors are part of a coordinated misinformation campaign meant to encourage people to use less secure alternatives.
— Signal (@signalapp) February 28, 2022
In a reply to its initial tweet, Signal also stated, “We’re seeing these rumors appear in messages forwarded on several different apps. These rumors are often attributed to official government sources and read “attacks on Signal platform.” This is false and Signal is not under attack.”According to Signal, the rumors about it being hacked are part of a ‘coordinated misinformation campaign,’ which aims to ‘encourage people to use less secure alternatives.’
In its Twitter post, Signal also said that it ‘had an uptick in usage in Eastern Europe’ and hinted that it was probably because of this uptick that the rumors started circulating in the first place.
Signal uses end-to-end encryption to protect the messages you send. With end-to-end encryption, the messages you send will be visible only to you and the other person who receives them. If the messages are intercepted, the interceptor will only see an incomprehensible combination of text and symbols.
