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End-to-end encryption for WhatsApp backups over iCloud

In recently, approximate two billion active users on WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the global level and it is also one of the few apps that offer end-to-end encryption by default. That means no one other than you the other party can read your conversations. Even WhatsApp cannot read your conversations because it does not have the key to UN-encrypt your chats. This was all true, except for the only one scenario: WhatsApp chats backed up to iCloud were all unencrypted, if anyone got their hands on your iCloud backup, they could read all your messages pretty simply. But now, WhatsApp has an optional feature to protect your WhatsApp backups with the same two-factor authentication by using the password and secure key. How to enable end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp backups over iCloud Before begin, you should know that WhatsApp end-to-end encryption depends on the password and 64-digit secure key. If you lose your password, you would not be able to restore your chats, so make sure you use for the secure yet recognizable password. If you use something complicated, make sure to save it on your password manager (it can be iCloud Keychain and third-party service such as Bitwarden). To get started, first update your WhatsApp application for the latest version. WhatsApp is slowly rolling this feature out to its two billion users, so if you do not see it yet, try again in a couple of days. How to Turn On End-to-End Encryption for WhatsApp Backups 1. Open the Settings menu of WhatsApp from the same settings page, on your Android and iPhone. 2. Enabling and disabling end-to-end encryption for the WhatsApp backup’s will not impact the encryption of messages you send and receive, as they will always remain encrypted. 3. Open WhatsApp, and from the “Settings” tab, and go to the “Chats.” Here, select “Chat Backups” and tap the “End-to-End Encrypted Backup” button. Tap the “Turn on” button and from the next screen, choose the “Create Password” option. 4. Here, create for the new password that includes at least six characters, and one letter. Then, tap the “Next” button. 5. Once everything is set up, tap the “Create” button to switch to the end-to-end encrypted backup. Give WhatsApp some time to transition to encrypted backups. 6. Last, tap Create and wait for WhatsApp to create a backup, encrypt it, and upload it to Google Drive or iCloud. 7. While WhatsApp has switched over to encrypted backups, your iPhone is still backing up the entire iPhone data to iCloud, in the same un-encrypted format. For the sake of security, we would suggest you disable iCloud backups altogether. To do this, here open the “Settings” app and tap your Profile banner from the top. Then go to “iCloud” and disable the “iCloud Backup” option. The idea of a general iCloud backup needs to be rethought. WhatsApp customer should not need to search that setting; iMessage needs for the more secure setup. Apple’s security loopholes have been headline news in this year, with Pegasus, client side scanning and many zero-days escaping patching. This issue is much more simple to fix.