The Swiss army no longer wants to see its soldiers on Whatsapp: in a message sent at the end of December to all its commanders and chief of staff revealed by the local press, the leaders of the Swiss army asked their soldiers to no longer use the encrypted messaging applications Whatsapp, Signal or Telegram. The circular instead recommends that the Swiss military opt for Threema, a competing secure messaging application developed in Switzerland by the company Threema GmbH.
Threema is a secure messaging application launched at the end of 2012 by several Swiss engineers. In particular, it offers a functionality allowing end-to-end encryption of messages, which makes it possible to ensure that only the sender and the recipient are able to read the message. Developed shortly before the Edward Snowden revelations, it took advantage of the encryption technology craze that followed the ex-NSA contractor’s revelations to gain some popularity, although it remained a minor player compared to other messaging applications such as Signal or Whatsapp. Threema, on the other hand, sets itself apart with several interesting features, including the ability to use the messaging application without having to link the user account to a phone number or e-mail address, which helps protect the identity of the user. the user.
But the real advantage of Threema in the eyes of the Swiss authorities is the fact that user data remains located on Swiss territory and that the servers are therefore subject only to the law of the country. Swiss forces fear that the use of messaging services based abroad will allow access to foreign intelligence services by exploiting extraterritorial laws such as the CLOUD Act.
Only downside: the use of Threema is not free. It takes 4 Swiss francs (a little less than 4 euros) to be able to use the messaging app, but the army promises to fund the accounts of soldiers forced to turn to the messaging app.