Posts tagged encryption

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is getting its own day(s) in court. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s encryption showdown with the U.S. government may be more or less dormant for now, but Facebook-owned WhatsApp has its own courtroom drama happening in Brazil. It scored a slight win today, however, as a judge overturned a decision yesterday that would have shut the whole thing down across the country for several days.

The controversy surrounds the messaging app’s end-to-end encryption. Specifically, the developer’s inability (and/or unwillingness) to crack it to comply with law enforcement requests.

Viber's new app update is a significant one. Photo: Viber

Viber’s new app update is a significant one. Photo: Viber

Popular cross-platform messaging service Viber has announced that it will follow Apple’s example by embracing user privacy through the introduction of end-to-end encryption.

Viber revealed today that it will start rolling this out for all of its one-to-one and group conversations, whether that be video, voice, or text messages. According to a spokesperson for the company, the encryption update will be available to users worldwide within “several weeks,” although an exact date isn’t specified.

WhatsApp just made messaging safer. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

WhatsApp just made cross-platform messaging safer. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s battle with the FBI may not have achieved much in court, but it did do some good.

Following in the iPhone-maker’s footsteps, WhatsApp today began rolling out end-to-end encryption for every single one of its 1 billion users. The move will make intercepting messages near impossible for authorities — and even WhatsApp itself.

Gmail is safer than ever. Photo: Jay Wennington/Unsplash

Gmail is safer than ever. Photo: Jay Wennington/Unsplash

As Apple fights to keep the FBI out of our smartphones, Google is making our emails even more secure.

The company today confirmed a number of new protections for Gmail users, including stronger encryption, better notifications, and more.

Google Transparency report star wars stormtroopers

Google is finding increasingly effective ways to keep its data secure. Photo: David J. Roger

The latest Google Transparency Report shows that since January 23, 77 percent of all requests to its servers have used encrypted connections.

The numbers on the new report are current as of February 27, and the company says it’s “working hard” to achieve full encryption across all of its services.

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