Only six out of 39 messaging applications have the features needed to guarantee the security of communications sent over the Internet, according to an analysis by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The results of the analysis, published as a scorecard on Tuesday, found that popular messaging apps—such as Facebook Chat, Apple’s FaceTime and iMessage, Microsoft’s Skype, and Yahoo Messenger—failed to meet all seven criteria, such as whether the application implements perfect forward secrecy and whether the source code had been audited for security. The group did the analysis as part of its campaign to promote the development of secure and usable cryptography, which is necessary in a world where government surveillance has become more common, Peter Eckersley, EFF’s technology projects director, told Ars.
The study is intended to help direct companies who are actively developing secure-communication software, he said.
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