PhreeZone 20 #1 April 5, 2016 With almost no big publicity the second most popular communication tool in use today went fully end to end encrypted last night. http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/05/whatsapp-completes-end-to-end-encryption-rollout/WhatsApp has enabled point to point encryption on all communications on their network. This means the same thing that it did for Apple, they have no way of opening any communications since they don't have the key to open it. With over a Billion users of the app and growing at a unbelievable growth rate I see a large number of new users getting added very shortly. I know via some industry contacts a few people over there and we are all really impressed by what they pulled off since they only employ about 50 people and only 25-30 of them are coders. The crypto guy that was brought in has lead a few open source projects promoting encryption and they have passed independent code reviews with flying colors. Its been reported that the Paris attackers had used this app even when only 30% or so of communication was being encrypted. I have not seen numbers recently but in the past well over half of all users were from overseas locations and some Telco carriers were promoting this instead of their own SMS messaging systems due to how much cheaper it was for users to send text messages to each other vs over traditional text messaging. Anyone see DOJ/FBI having an absolute conniption fit that they can now no longer be able to read the text messages nor can compel the company to retrieve the data for any sort of investigation? The world of the government vs encryption is going to get very interesting here in the short term.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,465 #2 April 5, 2016 Looks like FBI/DOJ should maybe look at their own issues first: https://motherboard.vice.com/read/fbi-flash-alert-hacking-group-has-had-access-to-us-govt-files-for-years?utm_source=mbtwitter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #3 April 5, 2016 Good for them. That said, WhatsApp is Facebook and I've always sort of assumed Zuckerberg is just a front for the government. Facebook is exactly what you'd want to build if you were Big Brother and didn't want to do any work; get everyone to put all their own information into the database themselves and track their own every move. Edited to add So I just downloaded WhatsApp to take a look at it and see if it was as potentially horrible as I remembered it; yep. On install it wants access to your contacts and asks you for your phone number. Yeah, like we all need another vector to get put on a list somewhere.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgiaDon 380 #4 April 5, 2016 Quote Its been reported that the Paris attackers had used this app even when only 30% or so of communication was being encrypted. Sounds like the makings of a killer ad campaign. "WhatsApp, when it just has to be secure". Don_____________________________________ Tolerance is the cost we must pay for our adventure in liberty. (Dworkin, 1996) “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” (Yeats) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stumpy 284 #5 April 6, 2016 PhreeZone Anyone see DOJ/FBI having an absolute conniption fit that they can now no longer be able to read the text messages nor can compel the company to retrieve the data for any sort of investigation? The world of the government vs encryption is going to get very interesting here in the short term. In real terms, I don't think it matters. Those that need strong encryption (terrorists etc) have been able to do it for a long time. The three letter organisations can't get to their stuff anyway.Never try to eat more than you can lift Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
