WhatsApp: The FBI’s worst nightmare

If encryption is something to be feared in the hands of terrorists, WhatsApp just delivered them a tool that will give the FBI nightmares much worse than the encryption on iPhones.

WhatsApp enlisted the help of Open Whisper Systems to implement the encryption, and according to that company’s blog, “This includes chats, group chats, attachments, voice notes, and voice calls across Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Nokia S40, Nokia S60, Blackberry, and BB10.”

This will likely drive law enforcement crazy, the FBI in particular, because it makes it impossible for WhatsApp to obey court orders to decrypt specified communications. Even if it wanted to comply, it couldn’t. The encryption is set up between the endpoints in the communication and WhatsApp just moves the traffic.

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Network World Tim Greene