Viber to put encryption to their messaging app
People are definitely worried about the threat of hacking and malware, as every other day we get to hear about some firm switching to more advanced encryption techniques so as to make its services safer and secure for users.
The latest to join the encryption bandwagon is Viber. The popular chat and communication medium announced this Tuesday that it is launching end-to-end encryption to Version 6.0 of its messaging app. This encryption will be enabled across all of its operating platforms, that is, desktop, iOS, Android and Mac.
You have every reason to rejoice since from now on, all the text or video messages and photo shares through Viber will be encrypted even if it is a group chat. Additionally, Viber will be adding a new and exclusive feature for its user. It is called “hidden chat,” and will hide certain conversations from the home screen. This means, if there is a conversation that you want to remain hidden then it would be possible through Viber’s Hidden Chat feature. If you want to reveal that chat, all you need to do is enter a 4 digit PIN code.
The new additions to Viber’s technical fraternity were announced personally by the company’s COO Michael Shmilov. According to his statement:
“We take our users’ security and privacy very seriously, and it’s critical to us that they feel confident and protected when using 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. We will continue to make this an ongoing priority as digital communication evolves.”
Viber is one of the leading messaging applications in the world with around 711 million unique users across the world. It was established in Israel and now owned by the Japanese firm Rakuten.
This latest move from the popular app was much awaited especially after WhatsApp, the arch-rival of Viber in the messaging apps community, deployed end-to-end encryption.
The new features will be available for users worldwide in a few weeks and to avail these users will have to update to the latest version of the messaging app. The services will be rolled out initially in four countries namely Thailand, Brazil, Israel, and Belarus. These countries are the hub of most of the R&D activities of Viber.
