On Wednesday, if you used instant messaging platform WhatsApp, you may have seen the following message after you posted the message, “Messages you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption.”
That’s because Whatsapp has now implemented encryption for all its users’ communications from Tuesday.
With end-to-end encryption, messages are scrambled as they leave the sender’s device and can only be decrypted by the recipient’s device.
This will make the interception by criminals or law enforcement agencies meaningless as the messages intercepted by them will be unreadable.
Owned by Facebook, Whatsapp said that protecting private communication was one of its “core beliefs.”
Not too long ago, it had announced reaching a billion users worldwide. It said that file transfers and voice calls would be encrypted too.
According to BBC Technology, the encryption was thrown under the spotlight after the FBI asked Apple to help it access data on an iPhone used by California gunman Syed Farook.
Whatsapp said: “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.”