Your WhatsApp conversations are secured by ‘end-to-end encryption’. But what exactly does this mean? We explain it to you.
End-to-end encryption ensures that only you and the person you are communicating with can read or listen to the conversation. The conversation is, as it were, encrypted, and that is also known as ‘encryption’.
encryption
Encryption is a form of cryptography. With cryptography, a message is encrypted or disguised by means of a code. A basic text (plaintext) is then converted into an encrypted text (ciphertext) using a mathematical formula or algorithm. This formula is called a ‘cipher’ and is a kind of cipher.
Such a cipher is not new and has been used since Roman times. But this cipher is a lot harder to crack. The algorithm has been made extremely complex on purpose, so that a computer cannot try out all the possibilities to crack the code in a short time. To achieve this, computers calculate a very long string of characters using a cipher. Such a string, or key, is a password that makes your messages unreadable if you don’t have the password.
Symmetric and asymmetric encryption
There is a symmetric and an asymmetric form of encryption. The symmetric encryption works with one key, the asymmetric encryption works with two keys. For example, the symmetric encryption is used for the cloud. But the big disadvantage here is that anyone who gets hold of the same key has access to your data.
That’s why WhatsApp has asymmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption requires two keys to crack the code. You and the person sending you a message each have a separate unique key to that specific message. That way no one else can decipher the message.
End-to-end encryption
With end-to-end encryption, your messages will be locked even better. it is true that a message is encrypted from the moment you send the message until the recipient receives the message. The message does pass through the company’s servers, but is not readable by anyone else, except for you and the recipient.
Check
Do you want to check whether your messages are provided with end-to-end encryption? This is possible by performing the following steps:
1. Open a WhatsApp conversation.
2. Tap your contact’s name to open the contact information screen.
3. Tap ‘encryption’ to see the QR code and 60 digit code.
4. If your contact is nearby and scans this QR code and it is indeed the same, you will see a green check mark. Now you know for sure that no one can intercept your messages or calls.
If your contact is not nearby but you still want to check, you can also send your contact the 60-digit code. Your contact can compare this code by going through the first 3 steps as well. If it’s the same, your conversation is encrypted.
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