WhatsApp is enabling end-to-end encrypted backups

WhatsApp is an instant messaging software owned by Facebook, which currently has more than 2 billion users worldwide. To improve security, WhatsApp has previously enabled end-to-end encryption (E2EE). End-to-end encryption can ensure that only the sender and receiver of the message can decrypt the message, and other third parties or intermediaries cannot read the message without the key.

Despite this, WhatsApp has a much-criticized security breach. If the user enables the backup, the communication data will be directly uploaded to the cloud, which is not encrypted.

WhatsApp recently announced the use of more comprehensive end-to-end encryption technology. Now not only will the direct communication between users be enabled by default, but end-to-end encryption will also be enabled for backup data. After adopting the new security policy, neither WhatsApp, Facebook nor any other third party has the decryption key, so it is impossible to view the user’s messages.

This new encryption measure can ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of WhatsApp backup data in the cloud. It is indeed an improvement in terms of privacy protection, although Facebook has a relatively poor reputation for privacy.