Now WhatsApp will get password-protected, encrypted chat backups soon

Even if WhatsApp’s chats are encrypted, its cloud backups are neither encrypted nor protected, particularly when they are backed up on Google Drive. Now the messaging platform is reportedly working on increasing the security of its cloud backups by adding a password protection feature that is going to encrypt chat backups. 

As per the WABetaInfo report, this new feature is in the works and has shared some screenshots that show how this could be presented on WhatsApp on iOS and Android.

The screenshots read, “To prevent unauthorized access to your iCloud Drive backup, you can set a password that will be used to encrypt future backups”. “This password will be required when you restore from the backup” - reads another one. 

The app will ask the user to confirm their phone number and select a password that is at least eight characters long. Another screenshot shows that “WhatsApp will not be able to help recover forgotten passwords”.

This will make these backups accessible only to the user. Earlier, WhatsApp has warned all users that while the chats are end-to-end encrypted, this protection does not extend to online backups on Google Drive and iCloud as that completely depends upon the cloud service providers.