How to Encrypt WhatsApp Message Backups Completely
How To Encrypt WhatsApp Message Backups Completely
WhatsApp is working to close a massive loophole in its end-to-end encryption feature, which protects your chats from being intercepted. Text messaging apps, in order to better protect your data, add an additional layer of security to help keep you and your data safe.
In addition, WhatsApp announced that you would be able to fully encrypt your message backups, rendering your chats unreadable by both WhatsApp and third-party cloud services, allowing you to protect your privacy.
This comes at a time when governments around the world are posing a threat to the security of users' online data, making WhatsApp's decision to take this step significant. Throughout this article, you will learn how WhatsApp's new end-to-end encryption feature works and why it is so important for your online security.
WhatsApp Will Allow You To Encrypt Your Message Backups to the Fullest Extent Possible
With the addition of an additional layer of encryption to its end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp is working to improve the security of your chats on the messaging app.
Over the course of several years, WhatsApp has already been encrypting your messages from beginning to end. Until now, however, you were forced to store your chat backup in an unencrypted format on a third-party app (such as iCloud or Google Drive) because there was no other option. This is not the safest option for your data, as you might have guessed based on your previous experience.
As a result, WhatsApp is now offering the option to encrypt backups using end-to-end encryption in order to address this security concern. This will encrypt the backups you upload to Google Drive or Apple iCloud, rendering them unreadable to anyone who does not have access to the encryption key.
Therefore, if you enable end-to-end encrypted backups for your chats, neither WhatsApp nor the backup service provider will have access to your backup or the encryption key used to create your backup.
The feature was announced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on his personal profile:
Because WhatsApp is the world's first global messaging service of this scale to offer encrypted messaging, as well as back-ups, getting there was a tremendous technical challenge that necessitated the development of an entirely new framework for key management and cloud storage across multiple operating systems.
What is the Encryption Process?
In order to make this new feature for end-to-end encryption backups possible, a new encryption key storage system that works with both iOS and Android devices has been developed. If you choose to opt-in, you will be prompted to generate a one-of-a-kind 64-digit encryption key or to create a password of your choosing.
WhatsApp has developed a backup key vault for this purpose, which you can use to store your encryption key either offline or in a password manager of your choice. You can also create a password to back up your encryption key in a cloud-based backup key vault, which WhatsApp has developed for this purpose. WhatsApp will not know your password, and you will be unable to use your key unless you provide it.
To put it another way, WhatsApp is giving you the option to encrypt your backups before they are sent to the cloud storage services you use. Because it will not have access to your chats, the cloud will be aware that it is protecting your data, but it will have no way of knowing what data it is safeguarding.
In order to further protect your data, WhatsApp will make your key "permanently inaccessible" if you enter too many incorrect passwords in a single attempt, according to the company.
How to Encrypt Your WhatsApp Message Backups
If you choose to use the new encryption feature, WhatsApp will encrypt all of your chats—including your messages, media, and all of your WhatsApp data—using a unique key that is generated on your device and stored on your device. You have two options: either use a password to protect the key or manually encrypt it with a 64-digit encryption key.
If you use WhatsApp, your key will be stored in a backup key vault that will be inaccessible to neither WhatsApp nor Apple or Google. The key can only be unlocked by entering your password, which grants you access to your chat backups and other information. If you remember the password, you can also choose to manage the key on your own if you wish.
What Is the Importance of WhatsApp's New Encryption Feature
The lack of security on social media apps has been a persistent problem, so it should come as no surprise that some businesses are looking for ways to protect their users' data from insecure dominant cloud service providers. But why is it so critical that WhatsApp adds an additional layer of protection to your conversations?
WhatsApp's encryption of your messages ensures that it will never be able to read them, ensuring that they are completely safe. The problem arises, however, when you back up your messages and other data to iCloud or Google Cloud, which are not end-to-end encrypted services like Dropbox or Google Drive. It follows from this that companies such as Apple or Google may be required to hand over your data if requested by law enforcement.
If a data center or any of the elements that help to keep the data center operational are compromised in any way, WhatsApp wants to make sure that your ability to retrieve your end-to-end encrypted backup and decrypt your chat history is not jeopardized as well.
According to WhatsApp, your key is duplicated across five different data centers located in different geographical locations to ensure that you can still access your chats even if one of the data centers experiences an outage.
Furthermore, by adding this additional layer of security, WhatsApp is going one step further than Apple, which currently holds the keys to encrypted backups of your iMessages, effectively defeating the purpose of protecting your chats in the first place by compromising your security.
In Conclusion
It's no secret that online security is one of the top concerns for social media users today, and it's only getting worse. WhatsApp is doing its part to ensure that your data is safe by upgrading its end-to-end encryption and providing you with the option to add an additional layer of protection. As a result, you can rest assured that no one has access to your data.
We can only hope that more companies will stand up against government entities seeking access to users' data in the coming years, given the growing concern over our data and the ongoing discussions about online security.
In addition, as technology continues to develop and improve, it is possible that more companies will come up with solutions to close existing loopholes and keep users' data safe.
