Security News > 2022 > August > Facebook Testing Default End-to-End Encryption and Encrypted Backups in Messenger

Social media company Meta said it will begin testing end-to-end encryption on its Messenger platform this week for select users as the default option, as the company continues to slowly add security layers to its various chat services.

"If you're in the test group, some of your most frequent chats may be automatically end-to-end encrypted, which means you won't have to opt in to the feature," Sara Su, product management director of Messenger Trust, said.

It's worth pointing out that Meta flipped the switch on E2EE chats in Messenger in January 2022 on an opt-in basis, meaning it requires users to explicitly turn it on to avail the privacy and security guarantees.

What's more, the encrypted backup feature is being ported over to Messenger too in the form of a feature it calls Secure Storage that allows users to create a PIN or a code, which can then be used to restore the chats on a new device.

The updates arrive ahead of a global rollout of default end-to-end encryption for personal messages and calls across Instagram and Messenger in 2023.

They also come in the immediate aftermath of news that Meta shared Messenger chats with law enforcement in a criminal case concerning a 17-year-old's abortion in the U.S. state of Nebraska, something that was made possible only because conversations on Messenger are still stored in cleartext.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2022/08/facebook-testing-default-end-to-end.html