Viber has announced that it is set to rollout end-to-end encryption for all text, video, and voice communication through its platform. Apple and WhatsApp have taken similar steps to secure their own messaging services, while Viber is also adding PIN-protected chats.
Just like WhatsApp’s encryption, Viber’s will cover both one-to-one and group chats, and will prevent anyone but those involved in the conversation from reading messages or viewing shared content without the device passcode.
Not only does this prevent government and law enforcement agencies from snooping on your Viber conversations, but it also ensures Viber itself is unable to take a peek. This will be welcome news to the service’s 700 million users worldwide — and it’s not all Viber is adding.
In addition to end-to-end encryption, the company is introducing a hidden chats feature protected by a PIN code. This allows users to hide certain conversations from the main feed, and adds an additional later of protection for particularly sensitive data.
“We take our users’ security and privacy very seriously, and it’s critical to us that they feel confident and protected when using Viber,” explained Michael Shmilov, COO of Viber.
“Because of this, we have spent a long time working on this latest update to ensure that our users have the most sophisticated security available and maximum control over their communications.”
Viber users will find the new features inside the latest version of the app, which will be rolling out on all platforms over the next “several weeks,” the company told Recode.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
