In this post we round up the most important secure messaging app news along with some of the coolest and updated apps to help you stay on top of it all.
Study Suggest One Security Feature that Most Messaging Apps are Lacking
If statistics are anything to go by, many people use several messaging apps to send hundreds of messages each day. However, despite being more secure than they were, there’s still a gaping hole that could leave users at risk if they are not careful in their behavior.
A recent study from Brigham Young University found out that most people don’t check to ensure authenticity when sending messages through chat apps. Why is that so? Blame the painstaking process of authentication.
Daniel Zappala, a BYU computer science professor and one of the study authors, demonstrated how to check that the security keys on both ends of the conversation match up. The only problem is that the lines of numbers making up those security keys are lengthy. According to the study, the whole authentication process could take up to 11 minutes, making it very tedious and inconvenient for a typical user.
So, what do the proponents suggest? According to the study, they are exploring the use of social authentication to make the authentication process more understandable to users. They’re also suggesting the use of a system such as CONIKS to help shorten the authentication process.
Secure Messaging App Implemented in 26% of Healthcare Organizations
Healthcare is one of the most heavily-regulated industries with regards to data security. However, a recent survey showed that only a few hospitals have access to a fully implemented secure messaging system.
According to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, only 26% of 549 surveyed hospital-based clinicians said that their organization had implemented a secure messaging option that was being utilized by some clinicians. Other research and surveys also indicate low utilization of secure messaging in healthcare.
A survey from Everbridge indicates that while secure messaging is an effective communication medium, it is not necessarily the preferred method for how healthcare institutions choose to communicate. The survey revealed the increasing popularity of mobile technologies in healthcare. Nearly 75% of respondents said they are using mobile phones, while 49% use secure messaging to enable mobile real-time communications.
“There should never be any worries about whether patient care instructions were correctly received and understood,” Everbridge Healthcare Solutions General Manager Eric Chetwynd said in a statement. “With the growing acceptance of mobile technologies in emergency departments, there is an excellent opportunity to make co-worker communications more efficient and effective – reducing the potential for errors that could affect patient care.”
To learn more about secure mobile messaging, contact TeleMessage today.
