Technoglitch
Core Member
Viber, a popular instant messaging and Voice-over-IP service provider with more than 700 million users, has implemented end-to-end encryption to protect its customers' communications against snooping.
The move comes after Facebook-owned WhatsApp turned on full end-to-end encryptionearlier this month, bringing secure and private instant messaging into the mainstream.
The majority of IM apps have long encrypted the communications between users' devices and their own servers. However, in such a configuration, the service providers themselves can still read communications as they pass through their servers to get routed to the intended recipients.
End-to-end encryption systems like those implemented by WhatsApp and now Viber allow user devices to establish a secure communications channel directly, making it impossible for anyone else to see the unencrypted data.
This means that even if a provider's servers are breached by hackers, they won't be able to view unencrypted user communications. It also means that companies like WhatsApp and Viber Media will be unable to comply with law enforcement requests for the content of their customers' chats or audio calls.
When end-to-end encryption is used Viber users will see a grey padlock in their chats and calls. When they verify the identity of their contacts and mark them as trusted, a green padlock will appear.
The authentication keys for the trusted contacts will be monitored and if they change at some point in the future, the padlock for those conversations will turn to red.
Viber follows WhatsApp in adding end-to-end encryption to its messaging service | PCWorld
The move comes after Facebook-owned WhatsApp turned on full end-to-end encryptionearlier this month, bringing secure and private instant messaging into the mainstream.
The majority of IM apps have long encrypted the communications between users' devices and their own servers. However, in such a configuration, the service providers themselves can still read communications as they pass through their servers to get routed to the intended recipients.
End-to-end encryption systems like those implemented by WhatsApp and now Viber allow user devices to establish a secure communications channel directly, making it impossible for anyone else to see the unencrypted data.
This means that even if a provider's servers are breached by hackers, they won't be able to view unencrypted user communications. It also means that companies like WhatsApp and Viber Media will be unable to comply with law enforcement requests for the content of their customers' chats or audio calls.
When end-to-end encryption is used Viber users will see a grey padlock in their chats and calls. When they verify the identity of their contacts and mark them as trusted, a green padlock will appear.
The authentication keys for the trusted contacts will be monitored and if they change at some point in the future, the padlock for those conversations will turn to red.
Viber follows WhatsApp in adding end-to-end encryption to its messaging service | PCWorld
