Whatsapp is not as safe as you think – your chats can easily be hacked and read, despite all the encryption

Basically, Whatsapp just fooled you with their end-to-end encryption.

Whatsapp is today one of the most widely used chat apps in the market and the app is used for communication by everyone. However, Whatsapp is not as safe as it was made out to be. Whatsapp launched their end to end encryption system last year and since then, have claimed that Whatsapp chats are safe from prying eyes – even those of within Whatsapp itself. I did give people a huge sigh of relief. Whatsapp is used to communicate among people all over the world. the messenger service has tons of users – almost 1 billion active users over the globe. It is difficult for Whatsapp to keep track of chats but sometimes, owing to the personal nature of conversations that take place over Whatsapp, it becomes imperative that there be a strong security system in place.

However, turns out, that might not be the case as recent reports have shown that Whatsapp might not be as safe or as secure as the app is believed to be. Whatsapp comes with a security backdoor that allows users to access it and also to read the messages shared. This backdoor was initially created as a further security measure but it negates the entire concept of encryption. Anyone can get in through the back door and access all Whatsapp files. And by anyone, the focus here is on Facebook. Facebook can easily enter the Whatsapp system and read chats of users for keyword search in determining advertising and also for algorithm creation for user preferences. It is the way the system is created that makes it especially easy for Facebook to access all data at the snap of a finger.

Since Whatsapp was acquired by Facebook, there have been tons of rumours floating around regarding the privacy and security of users on the site. Many have shared apprehensions of their chats and conversations no longer staying private or no longer being safe. However, the article in The Guardian has also informed users that there need not be anything to worry about as the details are least likely to be used by Facebook for advertising purposes. However, the door could be used by government officials to snoop around on private chats and catch potential threats. Early on after the encryption services were implemented, when there was a huge hue and cry over Whatsapp users rebelling against Facebook using their data, Facebook backtracked and it isn’t likely to change stance now. Nokia to launch new flagship Nokia 8 Android phone on February 26th but phone leaks give out specifications already

Whatsapp has been seeing a lot of changes in the past one year and the app is evolving at a rapid pace. But does the new change in end to end encrypton mean Whatsapp is no longer secure? According to The Guardian,

“WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption relies on the generation of unique security keys, using the acclaimed Signal protocol, developed by Open Whisper Systems, that are traded and verified between users to guarantee communications are secure and cannot be intercepted by a middleman. However, WhatsApp has the ability to force the generation of new encryption keys for offline users, unbeknown to the sender and recipient of the messages, and to make the sender re-encrypt messages with new keys and send them again for any messages that have not been marked as delivered. Reliance Jio to launch Rs 999 and Rs 1500 4G smartphones putting everyone else out of business?

The recipient is not made aware of this change in encryption, while the sender is only notified if they have opted-in to encryption warnings in settings, and only after the messages have been re-sent. This re-encryption and rebroadcasting effectively allows WhatsApp to intercept and read users’ messages.”

Well, it definitely would be interesting to see how and if Whatsapp responds to the latest claims and if there are any further changes implemented.