Multiple reports indicate that the encrypted messaging systems Signal and Telegram are suffering downtime in a number of countries.
Users of the popular encrypted communications services are reporting outages worldwide, including in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, US, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.
Reports have flooded across social media, and as there is no downtime or status page for Signal, users appear to have become increasingly concerned over the past few hours due to silence and a lack of updates.
Telegram users reported similar connection issues. In this case, Telegram quickly posted an update on Twitter acknowledging the issue.
Some of our users in Europe and the MENA region are currently experiencing connection issues. Please hang on, we have all hands on deck to bring you back soon!
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) March 5, 2018
The sudden downtime of an app such as Signal, which protects communications data through end-to-end encryption — but is a thorn in the side of governments and law enforcement without a means to crack it — prompted panic in some users.
To make matters worse, there is no online update by either Open Whisper Systems or on the Signal Twitter page.
However, a Signal spokesperson said, “we’re looking into this and working to get it resolved for you as soon as possible.”