Claims Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability of a backdoor in WhatsApp that could be used for third-party snooping were shot down by WhatsApp , which called the allegations false . On Friday , news outlet The Guardian reported Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability that a cryptography researcher had discovered Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability a backdoor in WhatsApp ’ s messaging service that could “ allow Facebook and others to intercept and read encrypted messages ” . In a short statement , WhatsApp said the claim was false : “ WhatsApp does not give governments a ‘ backdoor ’ into its systems and would fight any government request to create a backdoor . The design decision referenced in The Guardian story prevents millions of messages from being lost , and WhatsApp offers people security notifications to alert them to potential security risks . WhatsApp published a technical white paper on its encryption design , and has been transparent about the government requests it receives , publishing data about those requests in the Facebook Government Requests Report ” . The Guardian report Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability cited research Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability by Tobias Boelter , a cryptography and security researcher at the University of California , Berkeley . Last April , Boelter disclosed Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability his findings to WhatsApp and published a report Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability on what he posited could be either a backdoor or a flaw in WhatsApp ’ s messaging platform . Boelter later told Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability The Guardian the “ backdoor ” gave WhatsApp the ability to read messages because of the way the company had implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol . Reporters quoted Kirstie Ball , co-director and founder of the Centre for Research into Information , Surveillance and Privacy who verified Boelter ’ s research and stated the “ backdoor ” made WhatsApp an “ an extremely insecure platform ” . The Guardian explains Boelter ’ s alleged backdoor like this : WhatsApp ’ s end-to-end encryption relies on the generation of unique security keys , using the acclaimed Signal protocol , developed by Open Whisper Systems , that are traded and verified between users to guarantee communications are secure and can not be intercepted by a middleman . However , WhatsApp has the ability to force the generation of new encryption keys for offline users , unbeknown to the sender and recipient of the messages , and to make the sender re-encrypt messages with new keys and send them again for any messages that have not been marked as delivered . The recipient is not made aware of this change in encryption , while the sender is only notified if they have opted-in to encryption warnings in settings , and only after the messages have been re-sent . This re-encryption and rebroadcasting effectively allows WhatsApp to intercept and read users ’ messages . WhatsApp , acquired by Facebook in 2014 , supports end-to-end encryption and is considered a secure messaging platform based on the highly regarded Signal protocol , developed by Open Whisper Systems . The app boasts one billion users and has been endorsed by the likes of Edward Snowden for keeping private messages private . Claims Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability of a WhatsApp backdoor have been staunchly dismissed Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability by a number security researchers and cryptography experts . Moxie Marlinspike , the founder of Open Whisper Systems also agrees with WhatsApp telling Threatpost , “ The Guardian reporting is inaccurate , there is no ‘ backdoor ’ in WhatsApp encryption . Unfortunately it appears that they did not speak with any cryptography experts in order to verify their claims ” . Marlinspike also posted a more technical explanation behind what Boelter found . In a nutshell , he explains what Boelter says Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability is a backdoor is actually something all public key cryptography system have to deal with . “ WhatsApp gives users the option to be notified when those changes occur , ” he wrote . Frederic Jacobs , a key developer of the private messaging app Signal , called the claims of a backdoor “ ridiculous ” . In a tweet he said “ It ’ s ridiculous that this is presented as a backdoor . If you don ’ t verify keys , authenticity of keys is not guaranteed . It 's ridiculous that this is presented as a backdoor . If you do n't verify keys , authenticity of keys is not guaranteed . — Frederic Jacobs ( @ FredericJacobs ) January 13 , 2017 Jacobs and other security researchers explain Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability the “ backdoor ” is a feature designed to allow WhatsApp users who obtain a new phone to reinstall the WhatsApp app and continue a preexisting conversation thread . There is a renegotiation of encryption keys allows for the continuity of WhatsApp conversations . The WhatsApp sender is only notified of the change in encryption if they have opted-in to an encryption warning setting within settings . Marlinspike and other security experts say snooping on WhatsApp ’ s re-encrypting of messages by Facebook or any other agency would be extremely difficult and improbable . In post to his personal site Friday he doubled-down on his assertion that what he found Vulnerability-related.DiscoverVulnerability was a flaw . “ WhatsApp has stated recently that this is not a bug , it is a feature . Because now senders don ’ t have to press an extra ‘ OK ’ button in the rare case they sent a message , the receiver is offline and has a new phone when coming back online , ” he said . I agree that it ’ s a flaw , but calling it a backdoor is hyperbole . Remember , Moxie removed SMS encryption from his previous app TextSecure because of the same reasons that the current flaw exists : it is difficult to have secure conversations with people wtih changing phones , changing apps , etc .