WhatsApp does not have a security backdoor – Report
Following a report by The Guardian that WhatsApp has a backdoor which allows its encrypted messages to be read, Gizmodo has stated that the app is safe to use.
The Guardian reported that the backdoor allowed for message “snooping”.
“Fortunately, there’s no backdoor in WhatsApp, and according to Alec Muffett, an experienced security researcher, the Guardian’s story is major league fuckwittage,” stated Gizmodo.
WhatsApp uses the Signal encryption protocol to protect its users’ messages, which means that an organisation would have to have “cracked what is universally considered to be the best publicly-available encryption scheme”.
Signal is used in multiple messaging apps, and the report stated that several security experts have dismissed The Guardian’s report.
Gizmodo stated that the backdoor the report referred to was “a feature working as intended”.
The “backdoor” feature allows encryption keys to “get renegotiated to accommodate a new phone” when a device is factory reset, swapped or sold, or a new device is purchased by a user.
Gizmodo said it would require “significant collaboration” within Facebook for this to be exploited to intercept a user’s messages.
Now read: WhatsApp for Android tests GIF update
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