Heena Sharma Blog

  WhatsApp is one of the most commonly used instant messaging service, with a global user base of more than two billion. This Facebook-owned platform has around 400 million users in India, and that makes the country one of its biggest markets. Once a basic messaging platform, WhatsApp now supports video calling, file sharing, voice messages, etc, and boasts end-to-end encryption for privacy. One of WhatsApp’s key features is end-to-end encryption, which means the messages sent using WhatsApp are visible only to the sender and receiver of the message. On paper, WhatsApp seems to be a secure instant messaging platform with privacy at its core. However, the recent incidents where chat details of several Bollywood personalities have allegedly been leaked have brought back questions around WhatsApp’s privacy and security. Read More

Since the revelations about the Pegasus spywar e having been used to snoop on more than a hundred Indians, many are justifiably worried. You may think that if you are doing things that the government or powerful interests may not like, then it may seem like all the more reason to arrive at the decision that because you cannot do anything about the snooping, it is best to stop using your phone or stop communication altogether. Some may feel equally justified in reaching the conclusion that you should forget about security and go about your business seeing that you cannot protect yourself any way. It is true that it is very, very hard to protect yourself against a hack like this. Perhaps not with Pegasus, which has probably run aground, but other hacks of this kind will most likely occur again. But that does not mean you should give up on either communicating, or on communicating securely. Because the reality is that while you may not be able stop an attack like this, you ...