Research says 'WhatsApp' is taking its users data.

Research says 'WhatsApp' is taking its users data.

by Malik korrich ~ mardi 27 octobre 2015

Latest research has unveiled some most shocking facts about popular messaging app "WhatsApp" which says, the App is collecting all the data from its users phone which include his numbers, call duration and other information like chat and other data. 

 

This research was conducted by the University of New Haven, it explains that, "WhatsApp uses the FunXMPP protocol, a binary-efficient encoded Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), for message exchange".

 

The messaging app which was found in 2009, which was acquired by Facebook earlier this year has millions of users around the world. Researchers said Decrypting the network traffic isn’t simple, as both access to data on the device and full network traffic is required.

Researchers has decrypted the WhatsApp client connection to the WhatsApp servers before viewing exchanged messages using a bespoke command-line tool they created. 

 

We all know that Obama administration is concerned with the encryption policies of messaging apps. So, collecting and transmitting data from users maybe done on the pressure of NSA officials. Remember LINE has introduced an end-to-end encryption recently which makes a lot of NSA officials angry. 

 

This has been a sort of theft when you see it. The company could face backlash of their users because they are not aware about how WhatsApp is collection and transferring all their chats, phone numbers, pictures, videos and other things they transfer through the app. 

 

A paper about the study, entitled WhatsApp Network Forensics: Decrypting and Understanding WhatsApp Call Signaling Messages, was published in the scholarly journal Digital Investigation. The article was co-authored by F. Karpisek of Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic, and Ibrahim Baggili and Frank Breitinger, co-directors of the Cyber Forensics Research & Education Group at the University of New Haven.

Baggili said,“Our research demonstrates the type of data that can be gathered through the forensic study of WhatsApp and provides a path for others to conduct additional studies into the network forensics of messaging apps”.

Now the question is how safe you feel while using your favorite messaging app? Because one thing is for sure WhatsApp is keeping your data on its servers and with the high profile security breaches every week. No one can say with confidence that their servers cannot be breached. 

 

In this research there is no mention about Messenger conduction this type of activity, even though both are acquired by the same man.