WhatsApp

Encryption has been a hot topic for some time, but the battle between Apple and the FBI really brought it to the fore in recent weeks. In response to the FBI trying -- ultimately successfully -- to crack into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, WhatsApp was just one of the companies that promised to increase encryption.

Today the popular chat tool made good on its promise, enabling full end-to-end encryption; this means that calls, messages, photos, videos, files, voice messages, and group chats are all protected with end-to-end encryption. Importantly, this extra layer of security is enabled by default, leading WhatsApp to claim it is "a leader in protecting your private communication".

Privacy and security has always been a hot topic, but never more so than in recent months. The Apple/FBI case has really brought things to a head, enlivening the debate between privacy and security advocates, and those who side with the government. As Apple fights to prevent the FBI from accessing the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Facebook, Google and others are looking to increase encryption and lockdown user data even further.

The Guardian has learned that a number of Silicon Valley companies are working on ultra-secure encrypted messaging systems. With President Obama having made a sideways reference to supporting the inclusion of backdoors for government, Facebook is planning to not only bring encryption to Whatsapp's voice messages, but also to bolster the security of Facebook Messenger.

WhatsApp introduced a web interface for its messaging service a year ago, initially supporting only a single browser -- Google Chrome -- and a single mobile platform -- Android. Since then, the number of browsers that work with WhatsApp Web has increased, and iPhones were added into the mix.

Depending on which web analytics resource you believe, Google Chrome is either the most-popular desktop browser (according to StatCounter and W3Schools) or the second (per NetMarketShare's numbers), so WhatsApp's decision to support it first is understandable. But the latest browser to work with WhatsApp Web is an unexpected choice.

Described as the world's first "instant messaging mobile operator", ChatSim aims to take the pain out of travelling with a mobile phone. Roaming charges can quickly mount up for travellers who lose track of the number of texts they send, and in order to avoid high data fees, you might find yourself seeking out Wi-Fi connections to make use of the likes of WhatsApp instead.

But there is an alternative. ChatSim lets you stay in touch without worrying about the cost. Buy a SIM card for just $25, £16 or €20, and you can send an unlimited number of messages -- over Wi-Fi or 4G... whatever connection you have available -- without incurring any additional charges. Sounds good? It gets better.

There are many products that have hundreds of millions of active users in a single month, but there are few that have passed the billion mark. However, the select group, which includes the likes of YouTube and Facebook, has just gotten bigger.

And it is Google and Facebook which once again add new members to that list, with Gmail and WhatsApp, respectively, joining the pack. Both services passed that milestone in January, with one taking longer than the other to reach it.

Moves by governments to monitor web-based communication with a view to thwarting terrorism is utterly, utterly futile. Just like the NSA's dragnet-style dredging for intelligence, mass communication surveillance does little to home in on target -- the ones that government should be concerned about are the very ones who know who to evade detection.

This is something that was perfectly demonstrated this week when it became apparent that ISIS has developed its own secure messaging system. No longer reliant on the likes of WhatsApp, ISIS is using a custom-built, Android-based encrypted messaging tool that is incredibly difficult -- if not impossible -- for the FBI and NSA to monitor.

A new malware campaign is aiming specifically at businesses and consumers using the WhatsApp mobile messaging service.

Uncovered by researchers at Comodo Labs the campaign uses emails masquerading as WhatsApp content. These have an attached zip file containing a malware executable.

As most people nowadays rely on smartphone applications to do tasks or to be entertained, security firm AVG Technologies has recently released its updated list of the most battery-draining, as well as the data and storage consuming applications there are today.

According to over a million anonymous devices gathered worldwide, AVG’s report showed that messaging apps Kakao Talk and WhatsApp, as well as social networking apps Facebook and Instagram, remain to be the top apps that drain a device’s battery and use up the users’ storage and data.

A security researcher at Check Point has discovered a vulnerability in the WhatsApp Web app. The app -- which allows for WhatsApp messages sent to a phone to be viewed on a desktop computer, as well as syncing data -- can be exploited if a malicious user sends a specially-crafted vCard contact to someone.

A problem with WhatsApp's filtering of the contact card means that it could be used to "trick victims into executing arbitrary code on their machines in a new and sophisticated way". What's particularly worrying about this vulnerability is the fact that all an attacker needs is the phone number associated with a WhatsApp account. With an estimated 200 million WhatsApp Web users, there are a lot of potential victims.

WhatsApp introduced a web interface for its messaging service early this year, giving Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone users the option to chat with their contacts straight from a browser -- that is, as long as that browser is Google Chrome. Those toting iPhones, however, have been left out.

The reason why WhatsApp Web has not supported iPhones from the start is, according to an official blog post that did not go into specifics, "Apple platform limitations". Luckily, WhatsApp has figured out a way around them, opening its web interface to iPhones.

WhatsApp officially introduced voice calling in mid-March, after a couple of months of private testing. The feature, which was announced a year before, arrived on Android first, making its way to iOS less than a month after. Windows Phone users, however, were left waiting.

But, thanks to the latest update to the Windows Phone app, WhatsApp Calling is now also available for those using the tiled smartphone operating system.

Facebook said it might allow businesses to contact users through their chat app WhatsApp, Bloomberg said in a report on Tuesday.

This might be the first hint on how the social media giant plans on making money off the app that it bought for $22 billion (£14 billion).

WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging client, has reached 800 million monthly active users, company’s CEO Jan Koum shared the stat on his Facebook account last night. Interestingly enough, the company has just rolled out an update to its Android client to include an online conversation backup option. Users now have the option to take a backup of their conversation to Google Drive.

The updated version of WhatsApp’s Android client -- v2.12.45 -- is available to download through company’s official website. At the time of writing, this option wasn’t available to WhatsApp’s iPhone and Windows Phone clients, as well as not live on Google’s Play Store.

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now, but the deadline is finally here. Google's Gtalk service is set to be discontinued as of 16 February, and from this time users will have to use Google Hangouts or seek out an alternative.

This is not the first online service that Google has killed, and it certainly won't be the last. While Hangouts is generally regarded as a superior service, there are still diehards who will hold out until the very last minute to switch -- or they might jump ship completely in favor of something like WhatsApp.

WhatsApp today rolled out an update to its iOS app, which along with bug fixes adds a dialer button to its text messaging service. The dialer button -- as you might imagine -- is for placing voice calls, a feature that the Facebook-owned company announced last February. Earlier this week, the same feature was spotted on the WhatsApp’s Android client, and the company also confirmed that it was beta testing it with select users.

The feature, however, doesn’t work just yet, but changes in the user interface do give us an idea of what this forthcoming feature will look like. It is evident that WhatsApp has plans to roll out the voice-calling feature to its app shortly. But why is everyone in the press writing about it? How does the addition of voice calling functionality -- something which Facebook’s Messenger, Google’s Hangouts, and Microsoft’s Skype already offer -- change things? Here’s how.