Thursday, November 20, 2014

WhatsApp starts encrypting user messages on Android devices...

WhatsApp, the world’s most popular mobile messaging application, is adding a default encryption service for messages sent on its platform, what is said to be the largest encryption service of its kind.

The company is bringing end-to-end encryption via TextSecure, a software that scrambles messages with a device-specific cryptographic key, to its over 600 million users - the largest such platform according to statista.com. Deemed “practically uncrackable” by Wired, the security enhancement means that messages cannot be deciphered when stored or in transmission between devices.

The texting behemoth, acquired by Facebook for $22 billion earlier this year, has been working with Open Whisper Systems, a privacy-oriented nonprofit, to develop the change over the last six months.

End-to-end encryption is so hard to break because unscrambling keys are stored only on users’ devices. Previously, the WhatsApp encryption system stored keys on their server as well, giving WhatsApp and Facebook administrators potential access to user communications.

 The TextSecure encryption protocol uses a form of what’s known as “forward secrecy” meaning that a fresh key is created for every new message. Full story...

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