Popular chat platform Discord has completed the rollout of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for all voice and video calls. The update will strengthen the security of hundreds of millions of users, including both casual gamers and Ukrainian military personnel.
Popular chat platform Discord has completed the rollout of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for all voice and video calls. The update will strengthen the security of hundreds of millions of users, including both casual gamers and Ukrainian military personnel.
As TechCrunch reports, encryption now works by default and does not require additional settings in the messenger client.
«End-to-end encryption is now standard for all voice and video calls in Discord, except for stage channels. There’s no need to plug anything in,» said Mark Smith, Discord’s VP of Core Technology.
The implementation of the technology means that from now on, the keys for decrypting audio and video streams are stored exclusively on the end-user devices. No third party, including the administration of the service itself, Internet providers or attackers, will be able to intercept and listen to the conversation. This significantly reduces the risks of information leakage compared to the previous architecture, when data was processed on the company’s servers in the open.
Discord’s decision to enable E2EE for everyone stands in stark contrast to other tech giants, such as Meta Corporation’s earlier decision to abandon end-to-end encryption on Instagram, and TikTok’s decision to do the same for its private messages.
Originally created for gamers around the world to communicate, the platform has become an important element of troop management due to its convenience and low latency for audio and video transmission. Ukrainian commanders use Discord to quickly create group voice calls, allowing them to quickly unite fighters at different combat positions.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine began integrating a platform for combat management back in 2022. In particular, Discord has become indispensable for broadcasting streams from UAVs directly to command posts.
The practical use of the messenger has been demonstrated publicly on several occasions. In June 2023 , Discord was seen being used at the Territorial Defense Forces command post during joint exercises with the 26th Riverboat Division, where soldiers practiced river landings. The program’s interface is also clearly visible in a photograph of a Ukrainian command post in Donbas published in March 2023 by the American newspaper The New York Times.
To ensure security when using commercial software, the army uses special compatible platforms. They allow for flexible configuration of user access rights and deployment of closed servers. The security update with end-to-end encryption closes one of the biggest potential vulnerabilities — the threat of interception of negotiations during operation planning.
Later, the Russian occupation forces also tried to adopt the practice of using the messenger, but in the fall of 2024, the service was blocked on the territory of Russia by decision of Roskomnadzor, which further complicated the communication of enemy units.
