{"id":1578,"date":"2020-02-24T14:31:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T14:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/?p=1578"},"modified":"2020-02-24T14:31:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T14:31:08","slug":"hacks-and-spying-is-whatsapp-safe-for-diplomats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/?p=1578","title":{"rendered":"Hacks and spying &#8211; Is WhatsApp safe for diplomats?"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/netzpolitik.org\/2020\/is-whatsapp-safe-for-diplomats\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/litho\/b4f11653296ec3a5c33845585c0e103341c587f5719adc728df1a03b3eb744ac.png\" class=\"image-treated\" data-original=\"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/whatsapp_illu-860x484-1.jpg\" data-treated=\"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/wp-content\/uploads\/litho\/b4f11653296ec3a5c33845585c0e103341c587f5719adc728df1a03b3eb744ac.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp has become the standard tool for international negotiations. As early as 2016, the Guardian talked about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2016\/nov\/04\/why-do-diplomats-use-this-alien-whatsapp-emoji-for-vladimir-putin\">\u201erise and rise of diplomacy by WhatsApp\u201c<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp\u2019s popularity with diplomats comes from the fact that it is encrypted and has a large base of users, says Corneliu Bjola. \u201eAlmost everyone has a WhatsApp account\u201c, he notes.<\/p>\n<p>Bjola teaches Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford. He also advises officials on digital diplomacy. Bjola says WhatsApp is used in multilateral settings such as the UN, as well as within foreign ministries.<\/p>\n<h3>Tricky security questions<\/h3>\n<p>Yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/13\/technology\/nso-group-whatsapp-spying.html\">high-profile hacking cases<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/k7enqn\/google-is-letting-people-find-invites-to-some-private-whatsapp-groups\">apparent security flaws<\/a> have raised uncomfortable questions about the app.<\/p>\n<p>WhatsApp\u2019s popularity among diplomats could take a serious hit after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2020\/world\/national-security\/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage\/\">the Cryptoleaks scandal<\/a>. Investigative journalists revealed that German and US intelligence used faulty encryption to spy on allies across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>US spying has caused trouble for WhatsApp\u2019s parent company Facebook since revelations by whistle-blower Edward Snowden about the NSA in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>The widespread use of surveillance casts doubts on whether free services by US firms can guarantee adequate protection for their users.<\/p>\n<p>Europe has to ask itself \u2013 is WhatsApp safe enough for its diplomats?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Source: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/netzpolitik.org\/2020\/is-whatsapp-safe-for-diplomats\/\">Hacks and spying &#8211; Is WhatsApp safe for diplomats?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WhatsApp has become the standard tool for international negotiations. As early as 2016, the Guardian talked about the \u201erise and rise of diplomacy by WhatsApp\u201c. WhatsApp\u2019s popularity with diplomats comes from the fact that it is encrypted and has a large base of users, says Corneliu Bjola. \u201eAlmost everyone has a WhatsApp account\u201c, he notes. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1580,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions\/1580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blockchain-society.science\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}