Secure communication is a dialogue between two interlocutors that cannot be overheard by any other parties. To achieve this, users must interact in a way that prevents the interception of discussion data. Unfortunately, it is impossible to provide absolute protection against eavesdropping, except when communicating face-to-face with someone in a private setting. However, modern technical methods, such as end-to-end encryption, significantly reduce the risk of confidential information leakage.
Yes, encrypted messaging apps are highly secure and safe to use. However, this type of protection alone is often not sufficient: for example, in telemedicine, patients provide not only documents but also banking information. In general, all organizations that operate on the basis of apps are strongly recommended to use additional security measures to ensure the complete safety of the data, such as two-factor authentication, regular checks, local deployment, and much more.
As mentioned above, some industries require strict data protection policies that require close attention, such as healthcare, which must apply encryption and other measures to protect its customers' data. Most secure messaging apps for healthcare include Rocket.Chat, Weave, TrueConf, and more.
The Three Pillars of a Secure Communication
At the heart of secure communication lie three pillars that you should already be familiar with privacy, integrity, and authentication. Security scenarios may differ from one another, requiring a combination of these principles:
Privacy. As previously mentioned, a secure conversation should be private, without altering the core of the conversation for those involved. On the other hand, if an outsider wants to listen in, your interaction should be unintelligible to him.
Integrity. Secure communication should not compromise the integrity of the transmitted information. Thus, the receiving party must be certain that the message it has sent will reach the recipient in its original form.
Authentication. Secure communication should ensure that the interacting parties are who they claim to be. It is necessary to establish whether such a person is really in the system, and to go through the authorization process.
Tools Used to Obtain Security
Due to the ever-increasing number of threats from hackers, a wide range of tools are used to ensure secure communication. Let's stop for a moment and take a closer look at them:
Encryption is a method of information processing that makes data unreadable to third parties. If it is programmed properly, powerful enough, and the keys are not intercepted, then this method is one of the safest.
Steganography, or "hidden writing", is the practice of hiding information in another message to avoid detection. This method can be used to hide almost any type of digital content, including not only text, but also audio files.
Identity-based networks make communication private, due to the anonymity of both the sender and recipient of the message. Thus, the real identities of the interlocutors remain unknown, making it difficult to intercept any information.
Anonymous networks have also proven to be beneficial to users who are concerned about the security of their data. The essence of this method is a special routing of the transmitted information, making it nearly impossible to identify the original message and its recipient.
The anonymity of the device used for communication can ensure its location. To maintain their "incognito" status, some people, for example, visit an Internet cafe, where it is impossible to track all the guests who interact through the computers.
