WhatsApp vs. Blackberry, who wins? - BBC World

Security has been a major theme for BlackBerry.

The number of emoticons that offers WhatsApp is much greater than that available in the BlackBerry chat. In the first case, the contact is initiated simply by the telephone number and, second, it requires a PIN composed of figures and letters.

Apart from a few details, the instant messaging service offered by both suppliers is similar, sending text, pictures, voice messages and videos. But how safe is the transmission of data across these platforms?

Increasingly

people who use these tools to communicate. In June this year, and through a tweet, WhatsApp reported that processed 27,000 million texts daily. According to the specialists who handle numbers, this application is used by 300 million users.

BlackBerry case, we speak of 60 million people. This company has a good reputation with regard to the protection of the communications made through its chat (BBM, for its acronym in English) and that, from now on, will also be available for Android and Apple. WhatsApp, however, has not had a good record on the issue.

The latest incident is related to the alleged vulnerability that implementation because it uses the same cryptographic code for messages that are sent and those received.

class=”start-quote”> “ WhatsApp is consumer-oriented, has grown rapidly and technology implementation has been poor. BlackBerry has focused on businesses, which is why security is an important element in their offer “

Michael Sutton, Zscaler director

Thijs Alkemade Dutch programmer made public this discovery a few days ago. The company denied the charge, but not the first time he is involved in a similar situation. In the past two years were reported at least five problems that could compromise the privacy of the exchanged messages.

Are rumors or WhatsApp is certainly more vulnerable than BBM?

“Since its launch, WhatsApp has had several flaws in the security system due to cryptographic weaknesses, this makes the program more prone to attacks by hackers . This is not trivial, so on the contrary. Until 2012, for example, even key used to encrypt messages were simple texts, “he tells the BBC Michael Sutton, director of security firm Zscaler.

“Besides that he continues Sutton-password mechanism used and the IMEI code (used to identify this phone anywhere in the world) is very simple, so anyone can take advantage of that gap.”

cryptographic Footprint

WhatsApp ensures that processes 27,000 million texts per day.

Experts in the field agree that the problem lies not in the technology but in the mistakes that have been made in implementing the same.

“The cryptographic protocol is a secure way to protect information, but it has to operate correctly, otherwise, not much,” he tells the BBC Dave Anderson, director of Voltage Security, a company specialized in protection data on mobile devices.

In this context, the process of creating, storing, shipping and implementation of this data is critical to determine how reliable the communication.

“Those who work in architecture cryptographic product must be absolutely certain of what they do and follow procedures regularly, must be evaluated. Certification of the methods used by regulatory agencies and transparency make it a big difference, “says Anderson.

relevant in this context is the concept that exists with respect to the issue of security because, in many cases, it is assumed that the mobile device is locked, your information is safe.

“That works if the phone is lost, but that does not shield the information contained in the messages they enter and exit the unit. And this is key, particularly because increasingly these platforms are used to send data, such as by example, the number of a bank account. Therein lies the importance of cryptography designed for data sharing. “

Speed ??and quality

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class=”start-quote”> “ The cryptographic protocol is a secure way to protect information, but it has to operate correctly, otherwise, not much ”

Dave Anderson, director of Voltage Security

The difference between the companies in regard to safety issues can be explained by considering the strategy, design and the audience you target both products.

“WhatsApp is consumer-oriented, has grown very quickly and in this way, technological implementation has been poor. BlackBerry has focused on businesses, which is why security is an important element in its offer a aspect not sacrificed even to increase their market share, “says Sutton.

With the release of the BBM application for Android and Apple, the company appears to be changing his philosophy and adapting to the current dynamics. The Canadian company says, however, that to develop the product used the same code that have been used so far, so that security would be one of the strengths of your new application.

But to verify, will be necessary to test its new messaging system. As has just gone on sale, there are not many details about how it works on operating systems other mobile phones.