The incident of the FBI is trying to force Apple to decrypt a user's iPhone certainly caused more than the raising of a few eyebrows. Basic notepad coding. Other companies, most importantly IM services like WhatsApp and Viber, have begun providing end-to-end encryption to their users as well. This might seem like a statement of support for Apple, but it can also be interpreted as a means to compete and keep up with one another on all fronts. Today, we take a look at the end-to-end encryption and overall comparison between Viber and WhatsApp.
This chart shows Most Popular Messaging App in Every Country. Social messaging or social messaging applications or chat applications are instant messaging or mobile messaging clients that are built around social networking platforms. Viber and WhatsApp both give you a unique communication app, full of great features. But Viber is a robust VoIP communication app that's available across all the major mobile and PC platforms. WhatsApp, on the other hand, offers all the bells and whistles except for voice calling; the app is only for mobile.
End-To-End Encryption and other comparisons
Viber is the newest IM service to provide end-to-end encryption to its users. Telegram had that feature from the beginning in the form of secret chat, and WhatsApp now encrypts all conversations by default. We look at how Viber and WhatsApp compare with one another.
- Encryption Protocol
WhatsApp uses OpenWhisper encryption technique. It is quite secure against cryptographic attacks and is a relatively new mechanism. Viber, on the other hand, uses an open-source protocol with in-house security additions to make it more secure. Using open-source protocols is always a plus point, for it allows anyone to tweak with it as and when they please to test the strength of the mechanism.
- End-to-End encryption practise
Both the IM services in question now provide end-to-end encryption to users, but the way they provide these differ. Both of them offer encryption for text, audio, video, and VOIP calls. However, the difference is that WhatsApp encrypts all chats by default. Viber, though, requires a user to initiate an encrypted chat with a contact to encrypt the messages. This means that Viber does not encrypt all messages. The same is the case when we talk about group chats. WhatsApp encrypts all group chats while Viber will encrypt only Secret chats.
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This chart shows Most Popular Messaging App in Every Country. Social messaging or social messaging applications or chat applications are instant messaging or mobile messaging clients that are built around social networking platforms. Viber and WhatsApp both give you a unique communication app, full of great features. But Viber is a robust VoIP communication app that's available across all the major mobile and PC platforms. WhatsApp, on the other hand, offers all the bells and whistles except for voice calling; the app is only for mobile.
End-To-End Encryption and other comparisons
Viber is the newest IM service to provide end-to-end encryption to its users. Telegram had that feature from the beginning in the form of secret chat, and WhatsApp now encrypts all conversations by default. We look at how Viber and WhatsApp compare with one another.
- Encryption Protocol
WhatsApp uses OpenWhisper encryption technique. It is quite secure against cryptographic attacks and is a relatively new mechanism. Viber, on the other hand, uses an open-source protocol with in-house security additions to make it more secure. Using open-source protocols is always a plus point, for it allows anyone to tweak with it as and when they please to test the strength of the mechanism.
- End-to-End encryption practise
Both the IM services in question now provide end-to-end encryption to users, but the way they provide these differ. Both of them offer encryption for text, audio, video, and VOIP calls. However, the difference is that WhatsApp encrypts all chats by default. Viber, though, requires a user to initiate an encrypted chat with a contact to encrypt the messages. This means that Viber does not encrypt all messages. The same is the case when we talk about group chats. WhatsApp encrypts all group chats while Viber will encrypt only Secret chats.
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Viber Or Whatsapp
- Platform compatibility
Both WhatsApp and Viber are available on all mobile devices and can be run on Android, iOS, Windows, etc. However, there is a limitation when it comes to Viber's media sharing through iOS sharing extension. If you choose an audio or video file from your library and then share it using Viber, it is sent unencrypted. To make sure that it is encrypted, you need to open Viber first and then attach the media file using Viber explicitly. Viber itself has accepted this issue, and they assure their 711 million user base that they will be resolving this issue soon.
Conclusion
In this article, we saw how WhatsApp and Viber fare when it comes to end-to-end encryption. Viber is the newest member to join this club, with its encryption similar to iOS in that even Viber cannot read users' messages. However, there are still a few issues for Viber to solve when it comes to end-to-end encryption. This feature is not yet available in all countries of the world. But other IM services like WhatsApp and Telegram have their problems as well. We just hope that they make sure they leave no stone unturned to provide their users maximum security.
In the recent years, instant messaging apps have seen a great success in this growing connected world. However, so has the number of malicious hackers, which made a possible choice between the apps even harder. So which one should you go for from WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram? Here is a brief comparison between the three:
Contents
Approaches to Security
All three of them offer end-to-end encryption. In translation, this means that they encrypt the messages sent through their app in order to provide complete privacy both for the sender and for the receiver. Telegram was the first one to use this type of security, followed by WhatsApp and then by Viber, which was the last one to adopt this technique in April last year. However, with Viber, you can only enjoy this with the latest version of the app.
Viber O Whatsapp Web
Two-Step Authentication
Along with the most recent software update, WhatsApp has also received a two-factor authentication system. This introduces an extra firewall that appears when you log in, for maximum protection of your data, so this is definitely a bonus for them. You have to enter a passcode made up of six digits every time you register a device to an account, and in case you forget the passcode, you can use the email address.
What Does Telegram Bring New?
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Viber O Whatsapp Chat
Meanwhile, Telegram has the upper hand with their Secret Chats. Here, you send messages in a special chat that self-destructs after a while. Moreover, you get to choose when the chat will be destructed. Basically, only the device that received an invitation to a secret chat can join it, at which point the two phones exchange encryption keys. Furthermore, Telegram changes the encryption keys after they are used for more than a hundred times or more than a week. At the same time, this app is specialized in sending various data files.