Hey friends – Let’s talk about secure communications and secure lifestyle. After yesterday’s post, you might be thinking “Hey, this might be a useful tool if I ever need it.” Let’s change that mindset to “This is something I should use right now.” It’s important to know your tools before they become necessary, and if you’re already using them when you think they might be useful, then they’re already protecting you. Perhaps more importantly, you probably have friends that are more vulnerable than you and will need those tools before you do; they’ll be glad you both started early.
Let’s start with getting connected to Signal. Signal starts with your phone, so grab “Signal Instant Messenger” from the app store – Open Whisper Systems is the developer. When you start it for the first time, enter your phone number (it should be pre-filled for you) and it will go through the setup process automatically. You’ll get an SMS message during this process; you can ignore it because Signal handles it on its own. After a minute or two you the process should finish and you’re ready to chat!
If you’re like me, you do a lot of chatting from your computer, and prefer typing on a keyboard rather than a phone. As it turns out, Signal has a desktop chat program, they just don’t do a good job of advertising it. You need to have Signal installed and set up on your phone before it will work, so do that first. You’ll also need your phone handy for initial setup. Download the Signal desktop app from the Chrome Web Store:https://chrome.google.com/…/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmih…
Once it’s downloaded, start it up and click through screens until you see a QR code. You need to pair this with your phone, so open Signal on your phone, go to Settings in the menu, and choose Linked Devices. Touch the plus to add a device, then use your phone’s camera to scan the QR code on your computer screen. Once it’s done you’ll be asked to enter a name for your computer (this can be whatever you like), and you’re ready to chat!
Integrating Signal into your life is as easy as deciding to use it instead of other chat programs. If you’d message somebody with Hangouts (formerly GChat) or Facebook Messenger, use Signal instead. Signal has lots of nifty features, so I’ll spend several more posts going into more depth. Note that because your phone number is basically your username, you need their phone number to chat.
