WhatsApp now encrypts all your messages

It doesn’t matter what device you’re running WhatsApp on, the Facebook-owned messaging service is using a “powerful form” of encryption to protect everything from photos, videos, group chats, to video calls. Android phones were the first to get “end-to-end” encryption back in 2014 but now it extends to iOS and other devices as well. This comes after the encryption controversy Apple and the FBI got into over an iPhone used by a suspected gunman. WhatsApp has already caused friction in Brazil earlier this year as a Facebook Inc. executive was arrested after the company said it can’t unscramble a user’s encrypted message.

The end-to-end encryption WhatsApp uses automatically encodes the message, which can only be unlocked by the sender and recipient. WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum says he believes consumers have the right to easy-to-use encryption to protect themselves not just from hackers and identity thieves but also from “rogue” governments that spy on their own citizens.

Source: AP

Wikipedia fortifies encryption to prevent others from tracking your activity

What you search on Wikipedia should just be your business. At least, that’s what Wikipedia seems to be telling us as it starts encrypting its web traffic through HTTPS, making it harder for people to track your research. Encryption isn’t exactly new for Wikipedia. The organization has had a manual HTTPS option since 2011 and this always-on policy means you get at least basic level of privacy. And it should somewhat deter censorship-happy governments from blocking facts they don’t want shared.

Source: Engadget

Yahoo! started encrypting data center traffic, plans to do the same with Yahoo! Messenger

Following the NSA controversy in the US, Yahoo! seems to be striking back with the announcement of its plans to encrypt traffic from its data centers. Yahoo! claims they have begun encrypting this week and they also intend to encrypt services like Yahoo! Messenger.

Yahoo!’s Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos wrote in a blog post, “Hundreds of Yahoos have been working around the clock over the last several months to provide a more secure experience for our users and we want to do even more moving forward. Our goal is to encrypt our entire platform for all users at all time, by default.”