WhatsApp chat was protected by end-to-end encryption. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person. Because, even though there was encryption in the chat, there was no encryption in the chat backup. That is what WhatsApp launched this time.
WhatsApp has finally come up with a new feature to make private chat more secure. The company has announced that from now on, end-to-end encryption will also be used in WhatsApp chat backup. Experts believe that this feature will strengthen the security of WhatsApp. WhatsApp chat backups saved on Google Drive and iCloud will now be protected by end-to-end encryption.
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What are the new security features of WhatsApp?
All WhatsApp chats are protected by end-to-end encryption. As a result, no third party can read any end-to-end encryption WhatsApp messages except the sender and recipient of the chat. However, backups that customers save to regular chats in Google Drive or iCloud have not been backed up so far. As a result, if you could somehow manipulate that backup, all your chat information would be passed on to someone else. WhatsApp is also protecting chat backups through end-to-end encryption.
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How to keep WhatsApp chat backups safe on Google Drive and iCloud?
In a blog post, WhatsApp wrote, ‘Already WhatsApp customers can backup WhatsApp chats through Google Drive and iCloud. WhatsApp does not have access to this backup. However, customers can now use end-to-end encryption in chat backups using these services. WhatsApp or backup services will not have this backup. As a result, only customers will be able to access WhatsApp chat backup.
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How to access encrypted WhatsApp chat backup?
According to WhatsApp, when the account owner needs to access the chat backup, the password or encryption key can be accessed. When retrieving a chat using a password, the HSM based backup key will be decrypted with the key from the vault.
What is HSM Key? How to keep the chat secure?
HSM Key will be used for password verification when retrieving WhatsApp chat. When a customer tries to secure WhatsApp chats with a password, this key will be stored in a backup key vault. This key will be stored in the Hardware Security Module (HSM) component. When the account owner needs to access the chat backup, the HSM backup key can be restored using the password. However, if you enter the wrong password a few times, the HSM backup key will no longer be accessible and will be permanently blocked.
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How to keep chat backup safe?
WhatsApp chat backups will be protected by 64-bit end-to-end encryption. Customers can keep WhatsApp chat backup secure even with passwords if they want. In that case, your chat backup encryption key will be stored in the HSM backup key vault.
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How reliable is this backup method?
According to WhatsApp, the HSM backup used for the backup will be stored in different data centres around the world. If there is a problem in one centre, WhatsApp will get this information from another data centre.
How to restore chat backup?
For this you need to follow a few steps: –
- Chat backup can be secured with a password, in that case, the HSM key vault will be used.
- After password verification, it will send a key to an HSM key vault customer.
- Chat backup can be decrypted using this key.
- Chat backup can also be retrieved using the 64 digit key if desired.
Why is this feature important?
So far, WhatsApp chat has end-to-end encryption, but there was no encryption in the backup. As a result, hackers could easily steal personal information from chat backups. The use of WhatsApp is even more secure due to the addition of end-to-end encryption in the chat backup.
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