Social News
Author: Zheng Qiuling
2021-01-16 18:41
Last update date: 2021-01-16 18:42
The instant messaging software WhatsApp requires users to share their personal information with the parent company Facebook, otherwise they face the possibility of suspension. This has triggered a "social immigration wave". Other communication software such as Signal has rapidly risen, and downloads have soared by 4200%. However, Signal is due to users. The surge resulted in technical failures, users failed to send messages, and they have not fully recovered in the past 16 hours.
Hong Kong information security experts said that it is believed that due to the short-term service volume surge and failure to load, it will take time to re-plan the server capacity infrastructure to distribute the huge traffic to all parts of the world. It is believed that the repair process will not affect the information security risk.
In addition, he reminded Signal’s privacy settings that there are different options to enhance privacy and security.
The encrypted communication software Signal announced on Twitter early in the morning that the program has a technical failure and is working hard to restore the service as soon as possible. It is mentioned that the server and capacity have been increased at a record rate every day this week, but the user usage has far exceeded the predicted level. The post stated that they are still working hard to handle the peak network traffic with additional network capacity as soon as possible.
Information security expert Yang Hesheng.
(Profile picture)
Some users still cannot send or receive messages normally.
Yang Hesheng, convener of the Internet Security and Privacy Group of the Internet Society of Hong Kong, said that he believes that due to the short-term surge in service volume and failure to load, there will be a huge amount of unexpectedly. It is expected that it will take time to re-plan the server capacity infrastructure to distribute the huge traffic. All over the world, but it is believed that the information security risk will not be affected during the repair process.
In addition, the recent leakage of user personal data and security risks have attracted wide attention.
He reminded Signal that there are three functions to enhance privacy and security, including the option to "generate link preview" in the privacy settings to reduce the possibility of launching virus links by mistake; setting a PIN code to prevent the account from being stolen; and having screen security set up.
He reminded that different communication software collects personal information, but the degree and privacy policy are different. Users should understand and weigh them before using it.
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