all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited es solución de privacidad más completa"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Sin publicidad. La privacidad por bandera."],"People before profits":["Nos importan las personas, no los beneficios"],"Security through transparency":["Seguridad con transparencia"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["Las mejores ofertas del ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } de Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["El único servicio de correo electrónico con apoyo de la comunidad"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } hora","${ hours } horas"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Tiempo restante: ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } y ${ secondsLeft }"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuto","${ minutes } minutos"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } segundo","${ seconds } segundos"],"Limited time offer":["Oferta por tiempo limitado"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Crea varias direcciones"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Alias de hide-my-email"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Date de baja rápidamente de boletines"],"Use your own domain name":["Usa tu propio nombre de dominio"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Hablan de nosotros"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Apuesta por un servicio de correo electrónico cifrado que protege tu privacidad"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Rebajas de Black Friday de Proton: hasta un 40 % de descuento"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Contrata Proton Mail con hasta un 40 % de descuento en las rebajas de Black Friday. Encontrarás nuestros planes de correo electrónico cifrado de extremo a extremo al mejor precio."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Rebajas de Black Friday en Proton Mail | Correo electrónico seguro con hasta un 40 % de descuento"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["* A un precio de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante el primer año"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*A un precio de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante los 2 primeros años"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["Garantía de devolución de 30 días"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["A un precio de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante los 2 primeros años"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["A un precio de ${ TOTAL_SUM } durante el primer año"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["Ahorras ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ DISCOUNT } off":["−${ DISCOUNT }"],"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Adoro ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mi servicio de correo electrónico favorito"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Gracias, Proton, por brindarnos protección en este mundo salvaje de Internet."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Dan justo lo que prometen. Si las grandes tecnológicas te ofrecen algo gratis, se aprovechan de ti, por eso dejé de usar Gmail y me pasé a @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["días"],"Hours":["horas"],"Min":["min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["Y mucho más"],"Make your inbox yours":["Personaliza tu bandeja de entrada"],"Safe from trackers":["Evita los rastreadores"],"Stay organized":["Mantenlo todo en orden"],"Black Friday email deals":["Ofertas en correo electrónico del Black Friday"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["Lee testimonios de otras personas"],"Our story":["Nuestra historia"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Transfiere tus datos de Google con un clic"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accede a contenido bloqueado y navega con privacidad. Incluye ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } servidores en más de ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } países. Conecta hasta 10 dispositivos, accede a servicios de streaming de todo el mundo, bloqueadores de malware y anuncios, etc."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Comparte tu calendario con familiares, amigos y compañeros fácilmente y consulta calendarios externos."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Incluye compatibilidad con 1 dominio de correo electrónico personalizado, 10 direcciones de correo electrónico, 10 alias de hide-my-email, posibilidad de compartir calendario, etc."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Incluye compatibilidad con 3 dominios de correo electrónico personalizado, 15 direcciones de correo electrónico, alias ilimitados de hide-my-email, posibilidad de compartir calendario, etc."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Gestiona hasta 25 calendarios protegidos con cifrado de extremo a extremo y con opción, por ejemplo, de importar los de Google con un solo clic."]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Más información"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["Ten presente que, en estos momentos, el servicio de ${ issues[0] } está dando problemas de funcionamiento."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["Uno o varios servicios están dando problemas de funcionamiento en estos momentos."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Hay problemas con el servicio de Proton VPN en estos momentos"],"Learn more":["Más información"]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Sugerencias"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subcategoría","Subcategorías"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } min","${ readingTime } min"],"Category":["Categoría","Categorías"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["¿No has encontrado lo que buscabas?"],"General contact":["Contacto para consultas generales"],"Get help":["Obtener ayuda"],"Legal contact":["Contacto para cuestiones legales"],"Media contact":["Contacto para prensa y medios de comunicación"],"Partnerships contact":["Contacto para colaboraciones"],"Reading":["Lectura"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["Versión de la aplicación"],"Browser":["Navegador"],"Check if this helps":["Comprueba a ver si te sirve"],"Choose a product":["Elegir producto"],"Did this solve your issue?":["¿Te ha resultado útil para resolver el problema?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Solo te separan unos clics de una asistencia más rápida"],"How can we help?":["¿Cómo podemos ayudarte?"],"No, contact support":["No, contactar con el equipo de asistencia"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Rellena un campo después de otro"],"Please make your selections":["Realiza tus selecciones"],"Proton account":["Cuenta de Proton"],"Proton Bridge":["Proton Bridge"],"Proton Calendar":["Proton Calendar"],"Proton Drive":["Proton Drive"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Proton Mail":["Proton Mail"],"Proton Pass":["Proton Pass"],"Proton VPN":["Proton VPN"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Gracias por tus comentarios"],"What can we help with?":["¿En qué podemos ayudarte?"],"Yes":["Sí"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Consulta de búsqueda"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Buscar"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Busco"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Para una resolución más rápida, informa del problema desde la aplicación Bridge: Ayuda > Notificar un problema."],"Information":["Información"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Seguridad de la cuenta"],"Contacts":["Contactos"],"Custom email domain":["Dominio de correo electrónico personalizado"],"Email delivery and Spam":["Envío de correos electrónico y spam"],"Encryption":["Cifrado"],"Login and password":["Inicio de sesión y contraseña"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Fusionar seudónimos y cuentas"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migrar a Proton"],"Notifications":["Notificaciones"],"Other":["Otro"],"Plans and billing":["Planes y facturación"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Regístrate"],"Storage":["Almacenamiento"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Usuarios, direcciones e identidades"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Selecciona un tema"]},"swiss_baseed_feature":{"Swiss based":["Con sede en Suiza"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Premios"],"Customers":["Clientes"],"Featured":["Destacado"],"Go to testimonial source":["Ir a la fuente del testimonio"],"Reviews":["Opiniones"],"Videos":["Vídeos"]},"Text":{"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Si necesitas ayuda, consulta nuestra ${ supportLink }."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["Es posible que la página que buscas haya sido eliminada o que sea un\nenlace antiguo."]},"Title":{"On this page":["En esta página"],"Related articles":["Artículos relacionados"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["Compartir ${ thisPage }"],"Thank you!":["¡Gracias!"],"this page":["esta página"]},"Tooltip":{"More information":["Más información"]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accede a contenido bloqueado y navega en privado. Tendrás a tu disposición más de ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } servidores en más de ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } países, VPN de máxima velocidad, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } conexiones VPN, servicios de streaming en todo el mundo, bloqueadores de malware y anuncios, y mucho más."]},"version_history_label":{"Version history":["Historial de versiones"]},"version_history_tooltip":{"Store up to ${ versionHistoryNumber } versions of each file for up to ${ years } years":["Almacena hasta ${ versionHistoryNumber } versiones de cada archivo durante ${ years } años como máximo"]},"wallet_signup_2024: Wallet app":{"Store and transact Bitcoin privately with an encrypted self-custody wallet.":["Almacena Bitcoin y negocia de forma privada con una cartera de autocustodia cifrada."]},"wallet_signup_2024:Action":{"Get Proton Wallet":["Obtener Proton Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage hero product link title":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage product navigation bar":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:menu item":{"Bitcoin guide":["Guía sobre Bitcoin"],"Proton Wallet news":["Novedades sobre Proton Wallet"],"Proton Wallet support":["Soporte para Proton Wallet"],"Wallet features":["Funciones de Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Plan Feature":{"${ maxAccountsWallet } account per wallet":["${ maxAccountsWallet } cuenta por cartera","${ maxAccountsWallet } cuentas por cartera"],"${ maxAddresses } Proton Mail email address":["${ maxAddresses } dirección de correo electrónico de Proton Mail","${ maxAddresses } direcciones de correo electrónico de Proton Mail"],"${ maxWallets } wallet":["${ maxWallets } cartera","${ maxWallets } carteras"],"Access to Proton Sentinel, maximum protection for your account using human analysis with machine learning.":["Accede a Proton Sentinel, la máxima protección para tu cuenta que usa una combinación de análisis humano con aprendizaje automático."],"Bitcoin via email":["Bitcoin vía correo electrónico"],"Early access to new features":["Acceso anticipado a nuevas funciones"],"Encrypted and secure email. You can easily send Bitcoin to anyone with just their Proton name.":["Correo electrónico seguro y cifrado. Puedes enviar fácilmente Bitcoin a cualquiera con solo conocer su nombre de Proton."],"Encrypted email with ${ maxMailSpaceFormatted } storage":["Correo electrónico cifrado con ${ maxMailSpaceFormatted } de almacenamiento"],"Link up to ${ maxAddresses } email address":["Vincula hasta ${ maxAddresses } dirección de correo electrónico","Vincula hasta ${ maxAddresses } direcciones de correo electrónico"],"Securely exchange Bitcoin via email instead of complex, 26 character Bitcoin address. Transacting Bitcoin is as easy as hitting send.":["Intercambia Bitcoin de forma segura por correo electrónico en lugar de tener que usar una compleja dirección de Bitcoin de 26 caracteres. Negociar con Bitcoin es tan fácil como pulsar \"Enviar\"."]},"wallet_signup_2024:Pricing":{"Includes everything in Proton Unlimited and":["Incluye todas las funciones en Proton Unlimited y"],"Limited availability":["Disponibilidad limitada"],"The easiest way to securely own, send, and receive Bitcoin":["La forma más fácil de retener, enviar y recibir Bitcoin con seguridad"]},"wallet_signup_2024:ProductRange":{"Discover Proton Wallet":["Descubre Proton Wallet"],"Proton Wallet":["Proton Wallet"],"Store and transact Bitcoin privately with an encrypted self-custody wallet.":["Almacena Bitcoin y negocia de forma privada con una cartera de autocustodia cifrada."]},"wallet_signup_2024:Wallet app":{"Store and transact Bitcoin privately with an encrypted self-custody wallet.":["Almacena Bitcoin y negocia de forma privada con una cartera de autocustodia cifrada."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet bitcoin":{"Learn about Bitcoin, the Internet's value network.":["Infórmate sobre Bitcoin, la red de valor de internet."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet overview":{"Ensure you're always in control of your Bitcoin.":["Asegúrate de tener siempre el control de tu Bitcoin."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet security":{"The encrypted, open-source wallet that puts you in control.":["La cartera cifrada de código abierto que te permite controlarlo todo."]}}},"base":"blog","imageCDNEnabled":false,"cdnUrl":"https://pmecdn.protonweb.com/","unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api","cdn":{"enabledForImages":false,"enabledForAssets":true,"url":"https://pmecdn.protonweb.com/"}};
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Short Message Service (SMS), also known simply as text messaging, has been with us since the birth of mobile phones (the first-ever text message was sent over the Vodafone network(new window) in 1992).
SMS is supported by almost every mobile network provider in the world, with over two trillion(new window) SMS messages being sent during 2020 in the United States alone. Indeed, the United States remains a bastion of SMS use(new window), bucking the growing trend in other countries to use internet-based alternatives such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
The big advantage of SMS is that it is universal — it’s on everyone’s phones, allowing you to text anyone, regardless of whether they use an iPhone or an Android phone, or whether they use one of many competing third-party messaging apps.
However, unlike encrypted email, SMS was developed before the necessity of ensuring communications are secure and private was even considered. The result is that SMS messages are an open book, easily read by your mobile service provider, your government, and criminal hackers.
SMS messages are not encrypted in any way, so your mobile service provider can read every message you send and receive. They can also hand this information over to third parties.
In the United States, for example, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act(new window) allows police to freely access SMS messages that are over 180 days old. To access SMS messages sent more recently than 180 days, a warrant is required.
The problem with SS7
“Hackers can exploit SS7 flaws to track Americans, intercept their calls and texts, and hack their phones to steal financial information, know when they are at home or away, and otherwise prey on unsuspecting consumers. Moreover, according to multiple news reports, SS7 spying products are widely available to both criminal and foreign governments”.
Signaling System No. 7(new window) (SS7) is a set of telephony signaling protocols that underpin mobile phone networks around the world. It allows phone networks to communicate with each to connect users and pass messages between networks, ensure correct billing, and allows users to roam on other networks. It’s also used to facilitate SMS messaging.
A sprawling mass of outdated technologies that date back to the 1970s, long before it occurred to anyone to build-in security measures, SS7 has been known to be highly insecure(new window) since at least 2008. But despite a series of very high-profile examples of just how dangerous the situation is, nothing has yet been done to improve the security of SS7.
In 2014, hackers used SS7 to record a confidential conversation(new window) between the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, and US Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, in which Pyatt was highly critical of the EU.
In 2016, a security researcher showed how hackers with access to the SS7 network can spoof users’ identities(new window) to access messages belonging to the users of many messaging apps that rely on phone numbers for authentication.
In 2017, US congressman Ted Lieu called for an oversight committee investigation into SS7 on grounds that it was a national security risk. The FCC did hold an investigation(new window), but the working group tasked with the job comprised mainly of telecoms industry lobbyists and not a single academic expert.
Also in 2017, it was reported that hackers were using SS7 to intercept 2FA codes(new window) sent by SMS to secure bank accounts, resulting in real-world bank accounts being drained.
Obviously, the problems with SS7 go much deeper than just allowing governments, hackers, and who knows who else?, to have unrestricted access to everyone on the planet’s SMS messages. But it is a problem.
Beware SIM swapping attacks
Mobile network providers can seamlessly transfer phone numbers from one SIM card to another. This allows them to assist customers whose phones have been stolen and allows customers to switch network providers.
A SIM swapping attack allows hackers to exploit this process so that a victim’s phone number is fraudulently transferred to their own SIM card. This is usually achieved either by using social engineering to trick the mobile operator into believing the hacker is the genuine customer, or by corrupt mobile network employees.
The biggest danger from SIM swapping is that it allows criminal hackers to intercept 2FA codes texted to your phone number.
This has become an increasingly worrying problem, recently leading the United States FBI to issue a public service announcement(new window) warning that SIM swapping attacks have increased 15-fold in the last two years, resulting in adjusted losses in the US of more than $68 million in 2021.
It’s also worth noting that, because SMS messages are not encrypted in any way, any malware installed on your phone will have full access to them.
Are iMessage and RCS better solutions?
iMessage
iMessage is Apple’s attempt to replace SMS with a secure, modern, internet-based alternative. It uses end-to-end encryption, but only when messages are sent to other Apple users. It should be noted that there is no technical reason iMessage cannot also be released on Android — the fact that it isn’t is a purely marketing decision by Apple.
Given that Android has a mobile operating systems market share of over 70%(new window) worldwide, this is a serious problem, resulting in iMessage being largely ignored throughout most of the world in favor of platform-agnostic alternatives.
In the United States, where iPhones account for over 50% of the market(new window), iMessage remains more relevant, but it still means that texts to almost half the population are no more secure than those sent via regular SMS.
Importantly for a service that hopes to replace SMS, 2FA codes are invariably sent over regular SMS and so are not protected by iMessage’s encryption. In addition to this, by default, iMessages are backed up to iCloud without end-to-end encryption(new window), meaning that by default, Apple can access your texts regardless of whether they are sent using E2EE.
All that said, if your contacts all have iPhones and if you disable iCloud backups, then iMessage is undoubtedly an improvement over SMS.
RCS
Rich Communication Services(new window) (RCS) is an open communication protocol that offers most of the advantages of iMessage — including multimedia support, persistent groups, large multimedia sharing, and more.
It’s not a Google protocol, but Google now implements RCS in the Android Messages app. Although not end-to-end encrypted by default, Google has developed an extension that provides E2EE when using RCS.
This leaves RCS in a similar position to iMessage, where its potential to improve the SMS situation is hamstrung by its lack of cross-platform compatibility.
Secure SMS alternatives
Throughout most of the world, internet-based third-party messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and even Facebook Messenger, are increasingly replacing SMS.
These apps have the advantage of allowing you to text contacts on different platforms, they are all much more secure than SMS, and many use strong end-to-end encryption.
Although popular, WhatsApp is not a great choice when it comes to privacy because, although it uses E2EE, it allows Facebook to collect and abuse your metadata(new window) — who you are talking to, from where, at what time, how often, and from which device.
It’s not the fault of these apps, but they also do nothing to protect you when companies send your 2FA codes over regular SMS. Your best defense against this is to use a 2FA authenticator app such as Authy(new window), Google Authenticator(new window), or open-source andOTP(new window) or FreeOTP(new window) instead of SMS-based 2FA where possible. Unfortunately, this option is often not available.
Final words
SMS is fundamentally broken and should be avoided where possible. iMessage is good if all your contacts also use it, but for most people, a secure third-party messaging app that respects your privacy is almost certainly the best option.
Using Google Photos to store and share your pictures means allowing the company
to see, analyze, and process them. Many people concerned about their privacy
have taken steps to move away from the Google ecosystem, despite the company’s
efforts to hid
WHAT IS PROTON WALLET?
Our long-term vision is for Proton Wallet to be a digital wallet that gives you
full control of your digital assets. While the type of assets that you can hold
in Proton Wallet may evolve over time as we add more capabilities
Bitcoin is an innovative payment network that leverages peer-to-peer
transactions to remove the need for a central bank. Bitcoin has revolutionized
the core principles of value exchange by showing that a network of fully
independent nodes can operate
Proton Wallet is a digital asset wallet that currently supports self-custody
on-chain Bitcoin. In this article, we review the key features and security
architecture that make Proton Wallet a private and secure wallet that is as easy
to use as email.
Most of us send emails every day. Finding the right words and tone, however, can
take up a lot of time. Today we’re introducing Proton Scribe, a smart,
privacy-first writing assistant built right into Proton Mail that helps you
compose and improve yo
People and companies are generally subject to the laws of the country and city
where they are located, and those laws can change when they move to a new place.
However, the situation becomes more complicated when considering data, which can
be subjec