Secret misinformation campaign is trying to trick people into using less secure messaging apps, Signal says

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A misinformation campaign is trying to trick people into using less secure messaging apps, Signal has said.

Signal is a chat app that is known in large part for protecting messages as they are sent between users, using a technology known as end-to-end encryption. That means that only the sender and recipient of messages can read their content, making it less susceptible to hacking.

In recent days there have been a run of rumours attempting to suggest that the app has been “hacked and compromised” and that its security has been weakened, Signal said. But those rumours appear to be part of a messaging campaign aimed at encouraging people to stop using signal and move to less secure platforms, it said.

“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,” the company wrote in a set of tweets.

“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.”

The company did not name the group or people behind the misinformation campaign, or why it thought it had been launched.

It also did not indicate which “less secure alternatives” it believed those behind the campaign were attempting to push users towards.

But the statement comes amid a number of high-profile cyber attacks that have attempted to influence the course of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

A spate of cyber attacks have knocked down banking, government, media organisations and other key websites and services on both sides.