BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Have you ever texted personal information to someone? If you have a different kind of phone than they do, experts say you need to be careful.
"It's that old-fashioned tip we've been giving for years in the cyber realm, think before you click, think before you push send," said security expert and retired FBI agent Holly Hubert.
What do you need to know:
- United States officials say the Chinese have hacked their way into phone systems
- Hackers might be able to see messages when texting between an iPhone and an Android device
- The FBI sent out a warning and they're still trying to mitigate the issue
How do you stay safe:
- If it's from an iPhone to iPhone or an Android to Android, you're okay because those are encrypted.
- It's SMS messaging between the two that gets dangerous
- You can opt to using apps like Signal or WhatsApp
"You should know, that's an open text, it's not encrypted," said Hubert. "The danger really is a theft of your information, it's a data leak."
So someone could be reading your messages and stealing that information.
"It's something I don't think will ever stop," said Hubert. "Hackers scramble and find the next thing they can break."
You can find more information and resources online here.