Explained: WhatApp calls End-to-End Encrypted, but what does it mean for you? - India Today
Explained: WhatApp calls End-to-End Encrypted, but what does it mean for you? - India Today |
- Explained: WhatApp calls End-to-End Encrypted, but what does it mean for you? - India Today
- Law enforcement arrests hundreds after compromising encrypted chat system - The Verge
- How to Get the Most Out of Signal and Encrypted Chat - WIRED
| Explained: WhatApp calls End-to-End Encrypted, but what does it mean for you? - India Today Posted: 04 Jul 2020 03:57 AM PDT Internet phone calls are widely popular as one of the advanced technology's features. Users find it convenient to make an online voice call on a third-party app via internet connection. This makes WhatsApp voice-calling feature, which was introduced in 2015, so important. Many of you must have WhatsApp installed on your smartphones. The app lets you connect with friends, family, or colleagues -especially in the novel coronavirus situation when we have opted for remote work strategies. So I'm assuming that at least for once, you must have tried a WhatsApp voice-call feature. Now, the question is -did you ever notice the 'End-to-End Encrypted' flag on the top while making a WhatsApp call? If yes, and wondered what it means, then this article is exactly for you. If not, then you are going to learn something new today!  What is WhatsApp Messenger?WhatsApp Messenger, or WhatsApp, is a free application for communication using an internet connection. The app was developed in the US and introduced in 2009. Later, in the year 2014, WhatsApp was acquired by social media giant Facebook. Using this freeware, the end user can send both text and audio messages, share images, videos, links, documents like PDF files, or spread sheets, user location and contacts. To enhance the user experience while chatting with a person on WhatsApp, the app has some fun elements to choose from like GIFs, stickers, and emoticons. Other tools of communication on WhatsApp include voice calls, and video chats. WhatsApp bundles supplementary features such as putting up a status, something like Instagram stories or Twitter's Fleets, making payments and more. For Android users, you can download the app from Google's PlayStore. For the iOS platform, WhatsApp can be installed via the App Store. WhatsApp Calling FeatureA WhatsApp call has many benefits, over cellular calling, and one of them is being cost-effective. If your smartphone has an internet data plan, or is connected with WiFi, you can make a free call on WhatsApp including international calls. Other benefits include: > WhatsApp calls cannot be recorded. Though this can be both in favour, or against the application. Note: WhatsApp voice-calling feature isn't applicable for emergency numbers/services. How to call on WhatsApp?Follow the steps: 1. Open the Whatsapp Messenger on your smartphone. A WhatsApp call is easy-to-do and as mentioned, has certain benefits. But did you ever think of its downside? What if WhatsApp is breaching privacy when you are sharing an internet call? What if the company is listening to customers' voice recordings? Define End-to-End Encrypted WhatsApp CallsThroughout your WhatsApp call, you will see a label on the display of your phone which says End-to-End Encrypted. The text written in a smaller font is accompanied with a Lock icon. This is nothing more than an advanced security feature from WhatsApp. End-to-End Encryption assures that all the messages and calls are converted into a code while following encryption protocols. This way, the data you share online while communicating is all safe and secure. WhatsApp provides End-to-End Encryption for its users in order to have secure phone conversations. It is similar to Apple's iMessage and Signal. "Messages to this chat and calls are secured with end-to-end encryption", notes the app. All the texts and calls flowing through the platform are secured, and can only be viewed either by the sender, or the recipient. The WhatsApp Messenger cannot read messages, or record your calls. How to verify if WhatsApp calls are encrypted?It's very easy to find out if your WhatsApp messages and calls are encrypted. Follow the steps:  1. Open the Whatsapp application on your smartphone.  |
| Law enforcement arrests hundreds after compromising encrypted chat system - The Verge Posted: 02 Jul 2020 11:02 AM PDT  The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has made 746 arrests and dismantled dozens of organized crime groups after intercepting millions of encrypted text messages, BBC reports. The messages were sent through EncroChat, a subscription-based phone system popular among career criminals. The NCA said in a press conference on Thursday that the operation has had "the biggest impact on organized crime gangs it has ever seen." European law enforcement agencies appear to have been monitoring these conversations for months. French police first hacked the network, deploying a "technical device" to penetrate EncroChat communications after discovering that some of its servers were hosted in the country. Authorities first cracked EncroChat's encryption code in March and began receiving data in April. According to a Motherboard report, the cops accessed conversations, which the participants believed to be secure and private, around a wide variety of crimes, including drug operations and money-laundering schemes. EncroChat sold customized Android handsets with GPS, camera, and microphone functionality removed. They were loaded with encrypted messaging apps as well as a secure secondary operating system (in addition to Android). The phones also came with a self-destruct feature that wiped the device if you entered a PIN. The service had customers in 140 countries. While it was billed as a legitimate platform, anonymous sources told Motherboard that it was widely used among criminal groups, including drug trafficking organizations, cartels, and gangs, as well as hitmen and assassins. EncroChat didn't become aware that its devices had been breached until May after some users noticed that the wipe function wasn't working. After trying and failing to restore the features and monitor the malware, EncroChat cut its SIM service and shut down the network, advising customers to dispose of their devices. Police have warned that more arrests are coming. "This is just the beginning," said Dame Cressida Dick, the commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, at the conference. "We will be disrupting organised criminal networks as a result of these operations for weeks and months and possibly years to come." According to Motherboard's sources, "the criminal world is in disarray," with some users throwing away their phones, some going offline completely, and others attempting to flee their countries.  |
| How to Get the Most Out of Signal and Encrypted Chat - WIRED Posted: 06 Jun 2020 04:20 AM PDT  As police-brutality protests continue throughout the United States, people have increasingly turned to the encrypted messaging app Signal, and for good reason. As law enforcement increasingly surveils crowds, Signal represents most people's best way to communicate safely. And thanks in part to a $50 million infusion from former WhatsApp CEO Brian Acton over two years ago, the formerly niche app is more accessible than ever. For the first few weeks of May, Signal saw between 9,000 and 10,000 downloads each day across iOS and Android, according to the analytics company Apptopia. On May 31 that number jumped to nearly 15,000. On Wednesday alone, around 32,000 people installed it. By doing so, they can now take advantage of Signal's end-to-end encryption, which means that no one—not the government, your phone company, or Signal itself—can read the contents of messages as they pass between devices. Signal is not the only end-to-end encrypted messaging app; iMessage has it, as do stand-alone apps like Telegram. But Signal stands apart, both for its rich features and the fact that its code has been open source for years, meaning cryptographers have had plenty of opportunities to poke and prod it for flaws. WIRED has long encouraged readers to use Signal. Here, we're offering tips on how to get the most out of it once you do. Know Its Limits For those who are new to encrypted messaging, the most important thing to remember is that it's not magic. Having Signal on your phone does not make you invincible. Most importantly, remember that if you're messaging with someone who doesn't have Signal installed, nothing's encrypted. It only works for Signal-to-Signal communications. And make sure you have a strong password on your phone in the first place, since anyone who has physical access to your device can still read your messages. Signal also has a desktop app, which should be plenty secure for the vast majority of people; just be aware that desktop environments face a litany of threats. And using Signal on multiple devices means more places your messages can be compromised or stolen. Get Set Up Safely Signal requires you to provide a phone number when you join, which essentially serves as your user name. That doesn't mean you have to use your actual phone number, though. To avoid giving it up, use a Google Voice number instead. To do so, head to Google Voice in your browser, log in with a Google account, and select a new phone number. Google will ask you to verify it by providing your actual phone number, where it'll send a code that will let you complete your registration. You can now use that Google Voice number for your Signal account, keeping it separate from your main line. You should feel comfortable letting Signal access your device's contacts; it stores that information on your phone, not in the cloud. The app does periodically send truncated, hashed phone numbers back to Signal's servers, which is how it checks if any of your contacts are also using it, but it also says it discards that information "immediately." That way, the app can alert you when one of your contacts signs up for Signal; if you'd rather not get those updates, tap your profile icon, then Settings, then Notifications, and toggle off Contact Joined Signal. On Android, you can make Signal your default messaging app by going to Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Default Apps > SMS app, and picking Signal. Just remember that not everyone you text also has it installed, and that an iOS user you're texting with might check their Signal app less often than iMessage. (iOS still doesn't let you change the default messaging app, sorry!)  |
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