{"id":8249,"date":"2017-01-13T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8249"},"modified":"2017-11-06T14:00:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T14:00:46","slug":"whatsapp-security-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/whatsapp-security-hole\/8249\/","title":{"rendered":"Security hole in WhatsApp and how to fix it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday the 13th is always a day that superstitious people look to find bad news tied to random events or actions, like a black cat crossing their path or breaking a mirror. However on some occasions, bad news can also break on such an \u201cunlucky\u201d day.<\/p>\n

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Today, marks one of those occasions as The Guardian<\/em> broke a story entitled WhatsApp backdoor allows snooping on encrypted messages<\/a>. The story focuses on a reported security backdoor from researcher Tobias Boelter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the exclusive in the Guardian:<\/p>\n

WhatsApp\u2019s end-to-end encryption relies on the generation of unique security keys, using the acclaimed Signal protocol, developed by Open Whisper Systems<\/a>, that are traded and verified between users to guarantee communications are secure and cannot be intercepted by a middleman. However, WhatsApp has the ability to force the generation of new encryption keys for offline users, unbeknown to the sender and recipient of the messages, and to make the sender re-encrypt messages with new keys and send them again for any messages that have not been marked as delivered.<\/em><\/p>\n

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How private is that private messenger really? https:\/\/t.co\/V7nGJpEikU<\/a> #mobile<\/a> #messenger<\/a> #privacy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WPESX5lR16<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) January 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n