In a world where we’re seeing more and more instances of hackers trying to use nefarious tactics to extort money from innocent people, it has never been more critical to ensure your private messages are protected.

Recently we saw a fashion company owned by a friend of Meghan Markle hit by an attack where the hacker demands hundreds of dollars in Bitcoin in exchange for not revealing personal information.

While most of these attacks are merely scare tactics, it does raise the issue of encryption and the protection of private and sensitive data.

Our email accounts are usually the most common targets of hackers, but in truth, it’s rare that we send overly sensitive or private information via email in this day and age. Most of us know that our emails aren’t 100 percent safe from attack, and approach the medium accordingly.

But what about text messages?

We know our laptops are prone to viruses and attacks, but we tend to think of our phones as being pretty safe. We also store some of our most valuable and sensitive data on our phones, be it banking apps, photos, or text messages.

How aware are you of your privacy when you send a quick text message to a friend or colleague?

Many people are still using standard, unencrypted messaging services, the likes of which are provided by your phone company, but there’s a growing demand for an encrypted messaging option among users.

Companies such as ATRONOCOM have recognized that there’s a growing marketplace for encrypted messaging, and we’ve already seen the likes of Mozilla Firefox get involved in the encrypted messaging industry, although the option from Mozilla isn’t quite as comprehensive as some would like.

Considered one of the up & coming players in secure messaging, ATRONOCOM has quickly established itself as a secure, decentralized platform operating out of the one of the worlds developing markets.

Is encrypted messaging necessary?

At this stage, we still see this question asked, and the answer is yes, encrypted messaging services are necessary, especially in today’s world of hackers and cybercrime.

There’s also a good chance that you’re already using encrypted messaging in some form, as many messaging apps already provide a certain level of end to end encryption as standard.

One thing we can be sure of is that hackers aren’t going away any time soon. In fact, the advent of cryptocurrency has encouraged them in many ways, as seen in the recent news mentioned above.

The obvious solution is never to send any confidential or sensitive information electronically, but in today’s world that is becoming less and less of an option.

It’s essential to know the security levels of the services you use, and that includes your instant messaging service.