WhatsApp Reveals It's Encrypting iCloud Backups; Hackers Say It Can Be Thwarted

User privacy has become increasingly important over the past few years and it seems like tech companies have taken a proactive stance on the issue. WhatsApp has increased the security offered by the app while backing up data on Apple's iCloud storage service through encryption. However, as it turns out, a Russia-based forensics firm claims to have already found a workaround for the newly added encryption.

In order to make you understand the workaround found by Oxygen Forensics, we will have to first explain you how WhatsApp increased the security offered by iCloud. As per a report by Forbes, WhatsApp introduced a new feature last year that encrypts the data uploaded by the user onto iCloud and thereby increases the security offered through the platform further.

According to Vladimir Katalov, CEO of a rival firm Elcomsoft, when users enter the verification code required by the application while uploading data to iCloud, WhatsApp creates a unique encryption key that is then used to encrypt the backup data, Forbes reports.

Moving on to the workaround offered by Oxygen, while the forensics tools could be used to download the encrypted data, the firm claims that it can get access by using a SIM card with the same number as the user, as pointed out in the report. As user's Apple ID and password are still needed for this workaround, it can't be truly termed as a breakthrough but it has at least brought the enhanced security feature by WhatsApp into the picture.

It can definitely be seen as a step in right direction from the company after it introduced end-to-end encryption on text-based chats last year. However, we might need to figure out if the Facebook-owned company has already introduced some more security features that we are still unaware about.