WhatsApp rolls out end-to-end encryption for calls, messages

Messaging giant WhatsApp is rolling out end-to-end encryption, a move that will potentially protect texts and voice calls of its over one billion users from hackers and "regimes".

The announcement has come close on the heels of a legal battle between Apple and FBI over the US agency's demand that the iPhone maker help unlock its mobile phones. Many Silicon Valley players had supported Apple citing that user data privacy needs to be respected.

"WhatsApp has always prioritised making your data and communication as secure as possible. And today, we're proud to announce that we've completed a technological development that makes WhatsApp a leader in protecting your private communication: full end-to-end encryption," WhatsApp founder Jan Koum said on the company blogpost.

He added that the latest version of the app will encrypt every call, message, photo, video, file and voice message that is sent on the platform by default, including group chats.

"No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. End-to-end encryption helps make communication via WhatsApp private - sort of like a face-to-face conversation," he said.

The post by Koum, who grew up in Soviet-era USSR during the Communist rule, said the fact that people couldn't speak freely was one of the reasons his family moved to the US.

He added that end-to-end encryption will ultimately represent the future of personal communication.Read More.

FBI-Apple case: Investigators hack San Bernardino attacker's iPhone without Apple's help

The FBI has unlocked the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardinoattackers, officials said, ending a heated legal standoff with Apple that had pitted US authorities against Silicon Valley.

Apple, backed by a broad coalition of technology giants like Google and Facebook, was fiercely opposed to assisting the US government in unlocking the iPhone on grounds it would have wide-reaching implications on digital security and privacy.

A key court hearing scheduled earlier this month to hear arguments from both sides in the sensitive case was abruptly cancelled after the FBI said it no longer needed Apple's help and had found an outside party to unlock the phone.

"Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone," US attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement yesterday.

"We sought an order compelling Apple to help unlock the phone to fulfil a solemn commitment to the victims of the San Bernardino shooting -- that we will not rest until we have fully pursued every investigative lead related to the vicious attack."

It was unclear who helped the FBI access the phone and what was stored on the device. But news reports have said the FBI may have sought assistance from an Israeli forensics company.

In a statement, Apple said the FBI case should never have been brought before the courts and that the company would continue to increase the security of its products.

"Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy," it said. "Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk."

In a court filing asking that the case be dismissed, federal prosecutors said the US government had "successfully accessed the data stored on (Syed) Farook's iPhone and therefore no longer requires assistance from Apple Inc."

Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California on December 2 before dying in a firefight with police. Two other phones linked to the pair were found destroyed after the attack.

Tech companies, security experts and civil rights advocates had vowed to fight the government all the way to the Supreme Court, saying the case was not about a single phone and could set a precedent to compel companies to build backdoors into their products.

Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, a non-profit that supports Apple, said Monday's announcement was clear proof the government had an alternative motive in the case.