Not all messaging apps are created equal
The latest news of a security breach on WhatsApp calls into question the safety of anyone who communicates online – and that’s mostly everyone.
A vulnerability enabled hackers to remotely install malware by simply calling targeted phones. Multiple sources have reported that the surveillance software was developed by Israeli firm NSO Group, and can be installed without a trace and without the targets even answering the call.
The spyware can scan emails and messages, turn on the phone’s mic and camera, and collect the user’s location data. Even though the breach seemed targeted to a specific few, its users are being urged to update the app as an added precaution.
Major flaws such as this underline the importance of security, and being selective about the platforms one uses for communicating. It’s a pressing concern that Viber has continuously encouraged millions of users worldwide to understand better.
“Viber is different,” says Viber CEO Djamel Agaoua. “We put more energy and a greater priority on ensuring the privacy and security of chats than other messaging companies.”
“In the wake of the recent WhatsApp hack, consumers should know that not all messaging apps are created equal. Simply put, Viber is different,” Viber CEO Djamel Agaoua said regarding the specific issue. “How? In the first place, we cared about privacy before it was fashionable. It’s been a key component to our framework, it’s in our core DNA.”
He explains in a statement, “We put more energy and a greater priority on ensuring the privacy and security of chats than other messaging companies. Managing a company is about setting priorities and allocating the right resources to those priorities. At Viber, we allocate a large amount of our resources to security and privacy protection because we think this is of the utmost importance. Our hyper-focused culture of security and privacy is what enables our security engineering team to identify potential risks on a regular basis and take actions to ensure any flaws would not breach our app and tarnish our users’ trust and confidence in us. Every hour an engineer spends on improving users’ private data collection is an hour he doesn’t spend analyzing potential security breaches.”
“We are not perfect and nobody in the world can guarantee zero risk,” Agaoua ends. “But we do everything we can to be the leader in secure and private messaging—and that starts with being end-to-end encrypted by default for all calls and chats.”
Compared to other messaging apps, Viber puts the security and privacy of their users first and foremost–starting with being end-to-end encrypted by default for all calls and chats.
The leading chat app has, in fact, been reviewed by Yugatech, the country’s largest and longest-running technology site, to have the most comprehensive features to protect users’ privacy and allow them to have full control over their data.
All private and group communications including chats, calls, and video calls are encrypted by default, not as an option with Viber’s end-to-end encryption so that no one—other than the intended recipient—can see, read or hear them. The chat app is also the first to introduce the delete messages feature, which allows users to delete messages, confidential info or photos they’ve accidentally shared or regret sending.
More security measures in the form of features such as hidden chats, a function to hide certain conversations with a PIN access; and secret chats that can be set with a self-destruct timer to automatically delete a message after it’s been read (no screen shots too), are in place to provide users 360° security and privacy.
Viber, most importantly, has no access to the data that’s being sent by users, and does not store private information nor share these with advertising companies and other social networking sites.
As Agaoua pointed out, Viber focuses on ensuring that users enjoy better and safer ways of communicating every day, and making sure that these connections are strengthened by secure measures that users can count on.
Join Viber today and enjoy the world’s best communication experience. For further inquiries, contact us at [email protected]
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