10-18-2021 , 06:15 AM
https://news.softpedia.com/news/whatsapp...4222.shtml WhatsApp Starts Rolling Out Encrypted Backups for iPhone and Android
The feature protects backups stored in the cloud
Oct 15, 2021 06:38 GMT · By Bogdan Popa ·
New WhatsApp privacy feature going live right now
WhatsApp already comes with end-to-end encryption for private conversations and calls, but on the other hand, the backups that you create and store in the cloud are exposed.
This is why the company announced last month that it’s bringing E2E to these backups as well, no matter if you use an iPhone or an Android device. In other words, all your backups will be protected by end-to-end encryption once uploaded to iCloud or Google Drive, so in theory, nobody but you should be able to access their contents.
Of course, it also means that you may no longer be able to access your backups if you lose the password.
“We’re adding another layer of privacy and security to WhatsApp: an end-to-end encryption option for the backups people choose to store in Google Drive or iCloud. WhatsApp is the first global messaging service at this scale to offer end-to-end encrypted messaging and backups, and getting there was a really hard technical challenge that required an entirely new framework for key storage and cloud storage across operating systems,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month when the feature was originally announced.
Currently rolling out to devices
The new end-to-end encryption for cloud backups is now in the process of rolling out to devices out there, and Facebook says the whole thing happens slowly, though it’s not exactly clear what this means.
Most likely, only a handful of users are getting it right now, so there’s a chance we still have up to several months of waiting until we finally get our hands on the new feature.
Once it’s there, however, enabling the end-to-end encryption comes down to just a simple toggle in the settings screen. WhatsApp has included the option under Settings > Chats > Chat Backups > End-to-End Encrypted Backup.
The feature protects backups stored in the cloud
Oct 15, 2021 06:38 GMT · By Bogdan Popa ·
New WhatsApp privacy feature going live right now
WhatsApp already comes with end-to-end encryption for private conversations and calls, but on the other hand, the backups that you create and store in the cloud are exposed.
This is why the company announced last month that it’s bringing E2E to these backups as well, no matter if you use an iPhone or an Android device. In other words, all your backups will be protected by end-to-end encryption once uploaded to iCloud or Google Drive, so in theory, nobody but you should be able to access their contents.
Of course, it also means that you may no longer be able to access your backups if you lose the password.
“We’re adding another layer of privacy and security to WhatsApp: an end-to-end encryption option for the backups people choose to store in Google Drive or iCloud. WhatsApp is the first global messaging service at this scale to offer end-to-end encrypted messaging and backups, and getting there was a really hard technical challenge that required an entirely new framework for key storage and cloud storage across operating systems,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month when the feature was originally announced.
Currently rolling out to devices
The new end-to-end encryption for cloud backups is now in the process of rolling out to devices out there, and Facebook says the whole thing happens slowly, though it’s not exactly clear what this means.
Most likely, only a handful of users are getting it right now, so there’s a chance we still have up to several months of waiting until we finally get our hands on the new feature.
Once it’s there, however, enabling the end-to-end encryption comes down to just a simple toggle in the settings screen. WhatsApp has included the option under Settings > Chats > Chat Backups > End-to-End Encrypted Backup.