WhatsApp: New encryption feature protects your chat history from prying eyes

WhatsApp is now rolling out its end-to-end encryption service for chat backups, the corporate has confirmed.

Announced final month, the encryption feature provides an extra layer of safety to chat backups saved in Apple iCloud and Google Drive.

According to a WhatsApp weblog put up, customers can now safe end-to-end encrypted backups with both a password or 64-digit encryption key, which in principle means no third get together (together with each WhatsApp and the cloud storage vendor) can have entry to the knowledge.

WhatsApp says the brand new feature shall be rolled out incrementally, presumably in order that any bugs and efficiency points may be recognized and remoted early on.

WhatsApp backups

Although WhatsApp was among the many first platforms to supply customers with end-to-end encryption for messages, a mix of technical challenges and inter-company politics has meant the identical degree of safety has not been out there for chat backups, till now.

“WhatsApp was built on a simple idea: what you share with your friends and family stays between you,” wrote the corporate.

“While end-to-end encrypted messages you send and receive are stored on your device, many people also want a way to back up their chats in case they lose their phone. Starting today, we are making available an extra, optional layer of security to protect backups stored on Google Drive or iCloud with end-to-end encryption.”

As per a whitepaper revealed by WhatsApp, earlier than backups are delivered to the cloud, the shopper encrypts messages and different content material with a random key generated on the person’s machine. Unless the person chooses to handle it themselves, this secret's saved in a {hardware} safety module (HSM)-based vault, which shields towards tampering and unauthorized entry makes an attempt.

Essentially, this implies WhatsApp customers can relaxation straightforward within the data that nobody else is ready to entry their chat history backups whereas they're held in storage.

It’s value noting that the encryption feature won't be switched on by default, so should be activated manually within the app through the next route: Settings > Chat > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.