WhatsApp is all set to roll out end-to-end encrypted cloud backup on Android and iOS soon. The new move will help users keep their chats end-to-end encrypted, even if they are part of a WhatsApp backup stored on a cloud service like Apple iCloud or Google Drive. WhatsApp has worked from scratch to enable the anticipated end-to-end encrypted backup support for its users. Notably, the instant messaging app has been offering end-to-end encrypted messages on its platform since 2016, and the update is essentially an extension of that level of security to chat backup.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday announced via a post on the forum that WhatsApp It has completed the creation of end-to-end encrypted backups and will soon start rolling out a new layer of privacy and security protection for users.
End-to-end encrypted backup will be available as an optional feature that requires users to enable them manually on the app. It will be rolled out for both Android And iOS devices in the coming weeks, the Facebook-owned company said.
Users will be able to enable end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp by creating a password for their chat backups, which they will need to restore their backups in the future. Alternatively, WhatsApp will also be able to use its 64-digit encryption key for authentication.
By enabling end-to-end encryption for backup, users will be able to protect their chat history from being accessed by any third party. The company claims that neither WhatsApp nor the backup service provider including Apple And Google End-to-end encrypted keys and users will have access to backups.
WhatsApp has been allowing users to keep their chat backups running Apple iCloud In case of iPhone and others google drive In case of android phone. But in both the cases, the backups stored in the cloud are not protected by end-to-end encryption from WhatsApp. This means that the data can be read by third parties. it has brought some examples in which third parties, including law-enforcement agencies, have gained access to user data. That’s where the new end-to-end encrypted backup can be helpful.
The level of security through the new feature will be similar to that of protecting WhatsApp messages under end-to-end encryption. However, WhatsApp engineers need to work hard to implement the progress – especially considering the fact that over two billion users send to the app over 100 billion messages One day and most of them use cloud backup to protect their chat history.
With end-to-end encrypted backup, WhatsApp will encrypt chat messages and all existing messaging data including texts, photos and videos that are being backed up using a random key that will be generated on the device.
WhatsApp has created a Hardware Security Module (HSM) based backup key vault that will be effective when a user is opting for a personal password to protect their chat backups. This Vault service will save encryption keys for user backups on a per-user basis and will work as a physical locker in your bank to store the keys that help protect the backup with a password provided by the user. helps. Every time you need to restore your end-to-end encrypted backup, it returns the key after verifying your password. The service also ensures that the encryption key will not be provided after a certain number of unsuccessful attempts.
To avoid data center outage issues, WhatsApp says it is distributing Backup’s Vault service across multiple data centers geographically.
“Since the backups are encrypted with a key unknown to Google or Apple, the cloud provider is unable to read them,” WhatsApp said in a whitepaper.
It is important to note that if a user forgets their password and loses access to their phone, they will not be able to recover their encrypted backup.
If a user is not choosing the password option for their end-to-end encrypted backup and is using a 64-digit key instead, they must manually enter the key on the app to decrypt and access their backup. will need to do.
whatsapp was in the beginning spotty Is bringing end-to-end encrypted backups to its platform in July. Last month, the app was also found to be working on expanding End-to-end encryption for local backupHowever, there is no official word on its rollout.
That said, the end-to-end encrypted backup feature will initially reach beta testers on Android and iOS in the coming days — before reaching end users.
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