Cybersecurity training must address messenger app risks

Current cybersecurity training is insufficient because it focuses too heavily on email while neglecting the growing importance of messenger services. Although email remains a central communication channel, data from the digital association Bitkom indicates that email volume continues to rise despite the popularity of apps like WhatsApp.

Research shows that 83 percent of users consider messenger services such as WhatsApp, iMessage, or Signal essential. This shift creates new vulnerabilities; for instance, the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) reported that state-sponsored cyber actors have conducted phishing attacks via messenger services like Signal. These attacks have targeted high-ranking individuals in politics, the military, diplomacy, and investigative journalism across Germany and Europe.