Did you get a tiny yellow message about encryption today in your WhatsApp? Do you know what it is?
No, the government has not hacked the instant-messaging platform to read whatever you send, but Whatsapp just added full ‘end-to-end encryption’ to all its services, including voice calling and group chats, on both iOS and Android.
This means that whoever wants to read your messages will find it very, very difficult to do so unless you give them your phone as well as your password. Even WhatsApp themselves can’t read your messages – only the person you send them to.
WhatsApp said, “From now on when you and your contacts use the latest version of the app, every call you make, and every message, photo, video, file, and voice message you send, is end-to-end encrypted by default, including group chats.”
“The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. End-to-end encryption helps make communication via WhatsApp private – sort of like a face-to-face conversation,” said the founders of WhatsApp, Brian Acton and Jan Koum.
So, do you need to do anything to turn the encryption on?
No, absolutely nothing as long as you are using the latest version of WhatsApp. End-to-end encryption will be on as default setting assured WhatsApp.
If you want to know what is end-to-end encryption, read this: https://www.whatsapp.com/security.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/05/whatsapp-heres-what-that-new-little-yellow-message-about-encryption-means-5797825/#ixzz451fKr0mD
