NEW MESSAGING GUIDELINES RELEASED

Megan Poljacik • February 25, 2025

You may have heard recently that the FBI and Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency are recommending cell phone users use end to end encryption when sending text messages. Why are they doing this and how does it affect you and your business?


In December of 2024 authorities revealed that Chinese hackers have breached at least 8 major telecom network infrastructures, including those of Verizon and AT&T. Known as Salt Typhoon, the nefarious actors used a “back door” that is used by U.S. foreign intelligence surveillance systems (yes that’s legal wiretapping). Senior officials within the US Government have admitted the hackers have had access since summer of 2024. It appears that they focused heavily on users in the Washington DC area.



As of late December, AT&T and Verizon have stated that their networks are now secure, but the FBI is still recommending that all cell phone users use end to end encryption when using messaging apps. Many organizations use messaging to communicate with customers and employees, so what does this mean for your business?


Take note of of the devices you are using. iMessages between iPhones use end to end encryption by default. Most Android to Android text messages are as well, as long as the service is not using RCN. It is important to note that iPhone to Android Messages are not encrypted. It is recommended that you use a trusted third party, such as Signal or Telegram for any cross-platform messaging. Be sure to read the fine print with these apps, as Telegram end-to-end encryption is not enabled by default and you must manually enable ‘secret chats’ on each conversation. Telegram’s data is encrypted between you and the server, but true end-to-end (only sender and recipient can decrypt) must be manually enabled on Telegram. With Signal, end to end is the default. 


In conclusion, using end-to-end encryption for business messaging is just another tool to protect your business from nefarious actors. It keeps sensitive communications safe and private, which helps reduce the risk of unauthorized access and cyber threats, allowing you to maintain operational integrity.

Uncomplicate IT News Blog

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE CLOUD GOES DOWN?

By Megan Poljacik & Bryan Doherty • November 24, 2025
The internet has had a series of bad days over the last few months. In October, Microsoft 365 briefly went sideways in North America after a network misconfiguration disrupted access to Teams and Exchange Online before service recovered the same day. A few weeks later, Microsoft Azure suffered an outage after a faulty configuration change was pushed to Azure Front Door Configuration, affecting Microsoft 365, Xbox, and other services worldwide. Around the same time Amazon crashed, stating that an AWS disruption stemmed from a DNS automation bug associated with DynamoDB. This is an automated system that directs internet traffic that made a timing mistake, and that small glitch quickly snowballed and knocked parts of the service offline. Most recently, Cloudflare, a service many websites use to load faster and block bad traffic, went down, leaving millions unable to access sites and services. It’s no surprise that many business owners are now asking whether the cloud is still a safe choice for their business. Short answer: yes. For most small and mid-size companies, the cloud is still the safest, most cost-effective place to run everyday tools. It delivers enterprise-grade security, constant patching, and built-in resilience that would be expensive to match on your own. But “safe” doesn’t mean “never fail.”

ESTABLISHING AN AI POLICY FRAMEWORK: BALANCING INNOVATION AND RISK

August 27, 2025
By Bryan Doherty

IMPACTFUL VIRUSES IN HISTORY: STUXNET

By Megan Poljacik • July 31, 2025
In the early 2000s, tensions in the middle east were on the rise. Iran’s government had begun expanding its uranium enrichment capabilities, insisting it was for nuclear energy purposes. However many countries around the globe feared it was a coverup for a nuclear weapons program. Despite pressure from United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran continued to enrich uranium. Frustrations reached a fever pitch and it appeared a conflict was imminent, until a mysterious solution came from a completely unexpected source: the Stuxnet Computer Worm.