WhatsApp is rolling out chat backups with end-to-end encryption on iOS and Android to enhance user security by preventing any third party from accessing conversations, regardless of where they are stored.
WhatsApp allows users to all back up their chats and store them on online storage services. For iOS users , backups are stored on iCloud and for Android users , they are stored on Google Drive .
Chat backups are very useful, as if WhatsApp needs to be reinstalled on the device or on a new device, the app will restore the conversations.
See also: Facebook Messenger: End-to-end encryption on voice and video calls
Until now, WhatsApp chats were encrypted with end-to-end encryption. However, backups, which are stored in cloud services, were not. This means that someone with access to a phone or who carries out a man-in-the-middle or SIM swap attack could access chat backups.
For this reason, WhatsApp decided to offer end-to-end encryption to chat backups as well.
Facebook announced that WhatsApp is now rolling out a new feature that enables end-to-end encryption for chat backups, regardless of where they are stored.
Although this feature is not yet available to everyone, users will be able to assign a passcode, known only to them, to encrypt backups of conversations before they are uploaded to iCloud or Google Drive.
See also: WhatsApp for iOS beta: Changes to chat bubbles and Disappearing Messages
" Now you can secure your end-to-end encrypted backup with either a password of your choice or a 64-digit encryption key that only you know ," Facebook announced yesterday
“Neither WhatsApp nor the backup service provider will be able to read your backups or access the key required to unlock them“.
Users must use the same password to restore backups in the future.
See also: WhatsApp: Will soon be able to transcribe voice messages
Facebook says the feature will be gradually rolled out to all users. For now, it's only available to those running the latest version of WhatsApp, so it may take a while for it to reach everyone.
Once it becomes available on your device, you can enable encrypted WhatsApp backups by following these steps:
- Open WhatsApp.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.
- Click Continue, then follow the instructions and enter a password or key when prompted.
- Tap Done and wait for WhatsApp to prepare the end-to-end encrypted backup. While creating an encrypted backup, the app may ask you to connect your device to power.
Once chat backups with end-to-end encryption are enabled, you will not be able to restore backups to your device without the password, which only you know.
In case you want to disable this feature, you can go back to Settings and disable the setting for encrypted backup.
Source: Bleeping Computer
