WhatsApp is preparing for a revolution, that is, to allow encrypting the backup of users’ chats: here’s what it is and what to do
WhatsApp has been relying on end-to-end encryption for several years now to guarantee users the security of conversations. In fact, written messages travel to each other protected by encryption, i.e. a kind of safe whose keys are kept inside the smartphones of those who converse.
No “third party” has the key, so no one – not even WhatsApp – can intercept the exchange of messages and steal their content. A measure to ensure privacy that WhatsApp is preparing to extend even to user backups. Currently, in fact, backups saved in the cloud, Google One on Android or iCloud on iPhones, are not protected by end-to-end encryption. They are only protected by Google and Apple against external intrusions like any other file in their “clouds”, but theoretically the two technology giants could access them as well as a hacker who manages to “breach” iCloud or Google Drive.
WhatsApp backups are about to change
Well, things are about to change, because WhatsApp will allow users to put end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to protect backups, which will then rest on Google and Apple’s servers inside the “safe” to open which needs the randomly generated key. Everyone will be able to choose how to keep it: whether to write it down somewhere or to further protect it with a password chosen by us.
Encrypted WhatsApp backup, the two options
The shortest way is the first, that is, to let WhatsApp randomly generate a unique cryptographic key of 64 alphanumeric characters to be manually written down. Never lose it, because if you lose it, you will no longer be able to decrypt your WhatsApp backup and consequently get back all the conversations contained within it.
The same happens if you choose the second way, that is, to protect the encryption key with a password: if you lose it and exceed a certain number of incorrect attempts (that WhatsApp has not communicated), the system will make the encryption key inaccessible forever, so at that point the backup of WhatsApp chats will not only become inaccessible, but also unusable.
A bit, to get an idea, like when an ATM detects a theft attempt and irreparably stains the banknotes it contains.
All more or less automatic
First you have to choose whether or not to encrypt the WhatsApp backup from the app’s settings. After that, the system will randomly generate a 64-character alphanumeric encryption key, which you must write down (away from prying eyes, of course) in the first case or protect with a password in the second.
The rest is all automatic: the creation of the backup is automatic, as is the process by which the software locks it inside the virtual “safe”, and the uploading of the encrypted backup to iCloud or Google Drive.