the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp contained a backdoor . The article , citing research by Tobias Boelter , a cryptography and security researcher , accusedVulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerabilityWhatsApp of having a backdoor that it or Facebook could use to eavesdrop on user messages . The article , published by the media group last Friday , was almost immediately met with criticism , first from WhatsApp – which called the allegations false – then from a collection of researchers who also refuted the claims .