KAJICHO KIVULI
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 30, 2013
- 2,061
- 547
A group of researchers at the University of New Haven (UNH), recently taught themselves a lesson about the difference between liking something and trusting it. Their study was based on a WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is an online instant messaging service for phones and tablets that allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. The popularity and financial power of WhatsApp means that it handles a lot of personally identifiable information (PII) about its users, who in turn have to trust that the company does the right thing when it comes to guarding their privacy.
WhatsApp has made various privacy blunders in its history like using non-secret information to construct secret encryption keys and the two-time use of a one-time pad. One of the main security threat is that WhatsApp share location of its users which means that attackers who can sniff network traffic between your phone and Google's servers can pinpoint you as soon as you share your location with other WhatsApp users.
WhatsApp responded positively to the New Haveners' report, and has claimed that the flaw will be fixed in the next release of the software.
