As tens of millions of users switch from WhatApp to Telegram and Signal – with many using these apps for the first time, there are important security issues to avoid. And now there is a new threat to the security of your WhatsApp messages. It seems useful, but with a real hidden danger. Here’s what you need to know.
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WhatsApp fights continue – as it tries to stop the flood of users switching to Telegram and Signal. But consumers need to understand the risks before moving on. Signal and Telegram are not the same thing. And this has just become much more dangerous, with a new move from Telegram that could put WhatsApp users at risk.
Earlier this month, warning headlines and viral social media posts warned WhatsApp users that Facebook was infiltrating their data. WhatsApp’s first PR was tricky. By the time it seized the messages, as many as 50 million users had signed up for Signal for the first time, with two times opting for the larger Telegram.
The crisis is now in danger of becoming an accident. The real danger for WhatsApp is that Signal and Telegram become standard custom options. Yes, Telegram already had a substantial user base, but its new installations are getting into the heart of WhatsApp, moving it away from its other listeners in the past. And as Signal and Telegram build, there is a risk that the impact of the network will accelerate this “digital migration” from WhatsApp.
Both Signal and Telegram are mastering privacy-based marketing messages, playing to the feel of Facebook. They also release features and updates to fill the gaps of the offers. Ultimately, however, the trick is to move over as easily as possible, helping new users = bring the acquaintances with them.
One feature of both Telegram and Signal’s offer is “group connections.” Users can create replica groups for those they have in WhatsApp, then send a message to the WhatsApp group with a link to join the new group, install Telegram or Signal if they are not already on board.
Group connections
Signal / Telegram / iOS
Now Telegram is going a step further, enabling the import of exported WhatsApp chat history to its platform. It is now as simple as selecting “Export Chat” in WhatsApp and then selecting Telegram as the destination. All messages and (optionally) media are copied, giving all that history in Telegram.
“Starting today,” Telegram told its users this week, “everyone can bring their chat history – including videos and documents – to Telegram. .. The best part is that the messages and media you move do not have to take up extra space. Older apps require you to store all data on your device – but Telegram takes up almost no space as long as it allows you to access your messages, photos, and videos whenever you need them. . ”This is not the“ best part ”of anything. It is a serious danger that you must understand.
Export chat – WhatsApp to Telegram
WhatsApp / Telegram / iOS
Unlike WhatsApp and Signal, Telegram is a cloud-based platform. In addition to the special “secret chairs” that need to be set up manually and only work between two individuals on one device each, all your messages are stored on the Telegram cloud. This means you can access these messages from as many devices as you want, and if you lose a device you will not lose any of your content.
But it also means that your messages are on Telegram no end-to-end encrypted. This is a stark distinction for both WhatsApp and Signal, both of which offer that security. Telegram circulates messages between your device and its cloud, and between the cloud and your contacts. But Telegram holds the keys to this encryption. And while it has policies to secure those keys, this is nowhere near end-to-end encryption, where you and your acquaintances can access content, but the high-end pavements.
The security risk with end-to-end encryption is on your own device. This is called endpoint negotiation. Although messages cannot be imported in motion, once received by a device and decrypted, a physical or digital attack can be captured on that device. It is the biometric security or passcode on your device that keeps these encrypted messages safe. But as Telegram puts it, “we can’t protect you from your own mother if she takes your unlocked phone without a passcode.”
The same case extends to the cloud. If you support WhatsApp to Apple or Google cloud, then this is a copy of the decrypted chat history on your device. Apple and Google have the keys to your backup – it’s outside of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption. Telegram founder Pavel Durov argues that this makes “WhatsApp dangerous… Users do not want to lose their chairs when changing devices, so they back up support the chairs in services like iCloud – often without realizing that their backups aren’t circulating. ”
Telegram argues that its cloud is more secure than Apple or Google, “which is one of the reasons Telegram will never rely on third-party cloud backup,” Durov says. But he also says that “Secret Conversations are never backed up anywhere,” because they are circulated from one end to the other. But in exporting WhatsApp chat history to Telegram cloud, you are doing exactly what Durov makes sure no happen with Telegram’s own end-to-end encrypted chairs. This is a dangerous contradiction. Why are you offering to make your end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp chairs as secure as such (limited) Telegram?
Signal does not offer any kind of cloud backup, especially since this leaves its end-to-end encryption pointless. At the same time, Apple’s iMessage has the brightest option, extending end-to-end encryption over its “messages in the cloud.” ”WhatsApp offers these backups, but for security reasons that option should be disabled within your preferences – even if you lose chat history if you lose your device.
And so, you should no export your WhatsApp chat history to any third-party cloud, including Telegram, without fully understanding that by doing so you will disable the security that is currently protecting your content. Arguing that WhatsApp is not a secure source for your messages, Telegram should not suggest that you make that content even more secure, without explaining the differences in detail.
If you are switching from WhatsApp, please take some time to understand the differences between the other options. Your best solution is to keep WhatsApp while running other options in parallel, decide what works for you, and see how useful they are in developing as more users move across. There’s no hurry here – WhatsApp is still secure and you have plenty of time to do this right.