RCS orRich Communication Servicesis among the most secure forms oftext messagingavailable today, with modern encryption built in by default. While RCS is the norm for mostAndroid phones, Apple hashistorically resistedthis more secure form of messaging. Google has tried to force the iPhone maker into adopting RCS throughquirky campaigns, explaining why the company needs to finally make the switch. In its latest attempt toward convincing Apple to make the push, Google has published a detailed infographic filled with relevant stats, elaborating on the security risks involved with the older text messaging standard (SMS), among other key issues.
In a post on theGoogle Security Blog, the company says that “over 500 Android device manufacturers” are on board with the RCS standard while also pointing out that RCS is enabled by default onGoogle Messages. Awhitepaperby an independent testing and safety certification body, Dekra goes into further detail about the shortfalls of SMS, such as being vulnerable to SMS spoofing and interception from malicious actors.
To drive home the point about the weaknesses of the older messaging standard even further, the Google Security Blog citesresearch(paywalled) by The Association for Computing Machinery on the downsides of SMS from a security standpoint, with the lack of encryption being a key issue. It’s worth pointing out that Google’s blog post doesn’t mention Apple by name even once, though it’s pretty obvious to most people at this point that Apple is the only brand that’s resisting the adoption of RCS messaging.
As a quick refresher, while iPhone-to-iPhone chats (iMessage) are end-to-end encrypted already, things get tricky when the iPhone user texts an Android device owner or vice versa. More commonly referred to as the green bubble phenomenon, this reverts the text chain into conventional SMS, making it more susceptible to security issues such as the ones discussed by Google.
Google’s push to convince Apple to get on board the RCS wagon was not always flashy. In January last year, the company’s Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems, Hiroshi Lockheimer,tweeted(X’d?) that there were ways for Apple to change this system, with the official Android account also highlighting the need to “fix this as one industry.”
But here we are in late September, still waiting for Apple to adopt RCS. We were hoping this wouldn’t go theUSB-C way, with Apple finally adopting the connectivity port owing to regulatory pressure in Europe, among other factors. It seems like European regulators havegiven Apple some breathing roomin this regard, giving the company time until mid-2024 to adopt the secure messaging standard. We expect a few moreGet The Message adsto follow in the meantime.
