![]() ![]() WhatsApp is not alone in having security flaws – both Signal and Apple’s FaceTime patched their own bugs last year – but its popularity makes it a big target for those looking for gaps to exploit. The app was named in connection with a cyber attack on Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos, allegedly sent from the phone of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. WhatsApp has had a share of security scares, particularly in recent months. On the iPhone, they cannot be backed up at all. Signal allows Android users to backup their chats, but decrypting them requires a 30-digit passphrase. Unencrypted iCloud backups allowed US prosecutors to access messages from Donald Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort, for example. WhatsApp’s online backups, which allow users to restore messages when they get a new phone, are also not protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning that access to an iCloud or Google Drive account could mean access to private messages. ![]() ![]() “In the intelligence world sometimes metadata is more important.” Cheng said he developed a messaging app but pulled it when it appeared on an Islamic State recommended apps list. “We’re not asking the right question ,” says Andersen Cheng, the chief executive of cryptography company Post Quantum. The additional usage information that WhatsApp collects, so-called “metadata”, can also be requested by police. And the parent company is working on plans to make its three messaging apps – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct – compatible with one another, which may involve more data sharing. WhatsApp’s data policy specifies only that WhatsApp data is not used for advertising “today”. In some cases, this data is linked to Facebook profiles, although the company has been stopped from doing so in countries including the UK and says it is not used for advertising. While WhatsApp messages themselves cannot be intercepted, the app does store information such as interactions between users, when they were last online, and the phone numbers from their contact book. Although there has been no evidence that anybody has been able to crack WhatsApp’s encryption, its technology cannot be examined as easily.Ī more important difference is in what other data is collected beyond what one sends in a message. Signal is “open source”, meaning engineers and researchers can inspect its underlying code, while WhatsApp closely guards its own. WhatsApp even uses the Signal Protocol, a way of encrypting messages developed by Signal.īut experts say there are relevant differences between them. Users plug in their phone number, grant the app access to their contact book, and can start sending messages to friends.īoth WhatsApp and Signal use end-to-end encryption, meaning that messages cannot be deciphered while being sent between devices. On the surface, it has more similarities than differences with WhatsApp. It has since secured millions in funding from Brian Acton, one of the two original WhatsApp founders. Signal was first launched in 2014 as the successor to encrypted messaging and phone call apps from Open Whisper Systems, a project developed by the US entrepreneur and security engineer Moxie Marlinspike. Security experts say that Signal provides an extra layer of assurance beyond apps such as WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook and has had to deal with several several security bugs in the last year. The Commission has begun recommending that staff use the encrypted messaging app Signal as it seeks to boost security after a string of high-profile hacks, according to reports. It has become a communication channel for MPs, world leaders and business moguls, but according to the European Commission, WhatsApp should not be the app of choice for those who want to keep their private messages safe. ![]()
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