WhatsApp Just Turned on Encryption for a Billion People

The world’s most popular messaging app, WhatsApp announced encryption to all platforms. The company on Tuesday announced that it has strengthened the encryption settings. The messaging giant is having over 1 billion users, and now the messages will be only accessible to the sender and recipient.

After gradually expanding to other formats, WhatsApp confirmed on Tuesday that the encryption now works with all forms of communication on its app for Android phones, Apple's iPhones and other devices.

"WhatsApp has always prioritised making your data and communication as secure as possible," a blog post by WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton said, announcing the change.

WhatsApp is using “The Signal Protocol”, designed by Open Whisper Systems, for its encryption. Encryption has become a hotly debated subject, with some US authorities warning that criminals and armed groups can use it to hide their tracks.

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” states WhatsApp Blog.

Encryption is one of the most important tools governments, companies, and individuals have to promote safety and security in the new digital age. Recently there has been a lot of discussion about encrypted services and the work of law enforcement. While i recognize the important work of law enforcement in keeping people safe, efforts to weaken encryption risk exposing people’s information to abuse from cybercriminals, hackers, and rogue states”.

Open Whisper Systems, which is behind the Signal encrypted messaging app, has been working with WhatsApp to enable encryption over the past several months. More detail on the encryption is available here (PDF).