From InfoWorld: Letting people communicate securely and privately should be a no-brainer, not a complicated process where users jump through hoops or pay for expensive tools. For more than a billion WhatsApp users around the world, that dream is now reality, as the messaging app now provides end-to-end encryption for all users.
The latest version of WhatsApp, released late last week, lets users send and receive messages, attachments, and voice calls that can only be deciphered by the intended recipient, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, founders of WhatsApp, said in the blog announcement. The encryption feature is turned on for all supported platforms, which means every WhatsApp user on iPhone, Android, Nokia, and BlackBerry devices are protected.
“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,” Koum and Acton said.
Each user verifies their contacts and all encryption keys are stored locally. Since none of the keys ever touch WhatsApp servers, there is no way WhatsApp can know the contents of users’ messages, even if law enforcement comes knocking with a court order. The only places the messages could be intercepted are on the two devices communicating with each other -- nothing in between.
“All you need to know is that end-to-end encrypted messages can only be read by the recipients you intend,” WhatsApp said.
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