Whatsapp is secure, or at least that's what we thought until a new revelation came to light which showed that the Facebook-owned chat medium has a security backdoor that can allow Mark Zuckerberg's staff to intercept and read encrypted WhatsApp messages.
According to the Guardian, Tobias Boelter, a cryptography and security researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, said that due to the way WhatsApp has implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol, Facebook can intercept and read users’ messages.
This was in an article which went on to explain how Whatsapp works in terms of security. The report said that WhatsApp’s encryption relies on the "generation of unique security keys," which are traded and verified between users to ensure that communications are secure and cannot be intercepted.
The report has been made available to Facebook but nothing has been said yet, so we have no idea what will happen moving forward, but if nothing is done, then one will have to be very careful of their activity on WhatsApp, because you never know who's reading.
According to the Guardian, Tobias Boelter, a cryptography and security researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, said that due to the way WhatsApp has implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol, Facebook can intercept and read users’ messages.
This was in an article which went on to explain how Whatsapp works in terms of security. The report said that WhatsApp’s encryption relies on the "generation of unique security keys," which are traded and verified between users to ensure that communications are secure and cannot be intercepted.
READ: HOW TO GET WHATSAPP VIDEO CALL ON YOUR ANDROID
Facebook, it has been revealed, can resend undelivered messages with a new security key, effectively allowing the company to access the 'encrypted' messages without the sender or recipient being aware or able to prevent it from happening. (The sender is alerted after the fact if they have opted into encryption warnings.)
Facebook, it has been revealed, can resend undelivered messages with a new security key, effectively allowing the company to access the 'encrypted' messages without the sender or recipient being aware or able to prevent it from happening. (The sender is alerted after the fact if they have opted into encryption warnings.)
This is of course a big issue in terms of Freedom of speech with the possibility of spying a huge fear here.
According to Boelter, "If WhatsApp is asked by a government agency to disclose its messaging records, it can effectively grant access due to the change in keys,"
According to Boelter, "If WhatsApp is asked by a government agency to disclose its messaging records, it can effectively grant access due to the change in keys,"
The report has been made available to Facebook but nothing has been said yet, so we have no idea what will happen moving forward, but if nothing is done, then one will have to be very careful of their activity on WhatsApp, because you never know who's reading.
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