Secret chat in Viber. Viber will not be able to comply with the FSB's demand to decrypt correspondence

Following a similar path to the WhatsApp developers, they integrated full end-to-end encryption into their messenger, which implies storing private encryption keys on users’ devices. Unlike WhatsApp, which uses an implementation of the Double Ratchet algorithm from Open Whisper Systems (Signal) as its end-to-end encryption protocol, the authors of Viber wrote its implementation from scratch. In this case, messages sent between users are encrypted. text messages, calls, as well as sent files. The function is available to users starting from Viber 6.0.

Starting with Viber 6.0, all of Viber's core features are secured with end-to-end encryption: calls, one-on-one messages, group messages, media sharing and secondary devices. This means that the encryption keys are stored only on the clients themselves and no one, not even Viber itself, has access to them. Viber"s protocol uses the same concepts of the “double ratchet" protocol used in Open Whisper Systems Signal application, however, Viber"s implementation was developed from scratch and does not share Signal's source code.

Viber establishes a secure connection with all customer devices when they want to exchange messages. This means that if one party has the messenger installed on their main device, PC and tablet, and the other party also uses it on several devices, a secure connection will be established between each of the devices of the opposite parties.

To send a secure message, secure sessions must exist between the sending device and all the recipient"s devices, as well as between the sending device and all the sender"s other devices. So for example, if user A that has a mobile phone and a PC registered to Viber under the same account wishes to communicate with user B that has a mobile phone and a PC, secure sessions must be established between each pair of devices.

More detailed information O Viber encryption cm.

04/25/2016, Mon, 09:32, Moscow time, Text: Pavel Lebedev

Viber messenger following its competitors announced the launch end-to-end encryption for messages and telephone conversations their clients.

Viber has become safe

The owners of the Viber messenger and VoIP service announced the introduction of end-to-end encryption, which is available in the client program update (version 6.0) on various platforms - Android, iOS, PCs and Mac.

Be the first to take advantage new technology Residents of Brazil, Belarus, Israel and Thailand were able to protect their data. Within two weeks, the geography will be expanded to other countries where Viber operates. According to the Viber COO Michael Shmilov(Michael Shmilov), the development of end-to-end encryption has been ongoing “for several years.”

How end-to-end protection works

The essence of end-to-end encryption technology is that the message is encrypted along the entire path from sender to recipient. The key with which the message can be decrypted is stored only by the recipient, so the owner of the messenger will not be able to transfer it to a third party even at the request of government authorities. “Viber will not provide access to correspondence in any country and under any circumstances. We take the same position as Apple and WhatsApp. The company has records of interactions between various telephone numbers, but we do not have access to the content of messages or conversations,” Viber said.

Viber developers have provided several levels of protection. After activating the update using a QR code, an icon in the form of a lock appears on the right side of the screen, the color of which indicates the degree of security. Gray indicates full data encryption, a green padlock appears if you select the option for additional user authentication when starting a new conversation. The red color warns of an attempt to intercept data, but also lights up if the interlocutor is using a new device.

In pursuit of competitors

Viber announced the implementation of end-to-end encryption technology less than a month after end-to-end encryption was introduced to WhatsApp, which has about 1 billion users and is the most popular instant messenger in the world.

Viber, following its competitors, announced the launch of end-to-end encryption

Viber is the second largest exchange service by the number of accounts. instant messages with a customer base of more than 700 million. Another widespread messenger – Telegram (more than 100 million users) – has had an end-to-end encryption function since its release in 2013.

Technical details

Partner with competitors from WhatsApp in implementation new opportunity became the company Open Whisper Systems, developer mobile application Signal - your favorite messenger Edward Snowden(Edward Snowden), where data encryption is based on the Signal Protocol. Its peculiarity is that new keys are used for each session (unlike, for example, the encryption protocol email PGP, in which messages are encrypted over and over again with the same public key).

Viber representatives, unlike their WhatsApp colleagues, do not disclose technical details about the operation of their end-to-end protection mechanism. The company denied information about the use of the MD5 algorithm, which is considered unreliable, and reported that “the encryption technology is based on a protocol with open source, supplemented by our own (in-house) developments.”

What is secret chat

Secret chat in Viber is designed for secret communication. Access to messages will be closed as to strangers, and the company server. Using this function, you can calmly discuss the most important and intimate issues related to work factors and personal life. Even if your gadget falls into the wrong hands, you don’t have to worry that someone will steal it interesting idea or finds out confidential information, the application will delete the correspondence automatically after the time you specify.

Viber also has a concept - this is not the same as a secret chat.

Let's figure out how secret chat works in Viber. A special coding and protection technique is used for such dialogues. They are marked with a lock icon. The user himself sets the time after which the letters are destroyed. Unlike simple conversations, you cannot delete some messages here; the correspondence is completely deleted.

How to find a secret chat in Viber? You can find a dialogue by scrolling through all conversations from beginning to end. But there is no point in looking for it, since all messages are deleted, and only empty windows remain, which take up space on the device and arouse suspicion if they are discovered by strangers. This is a flaw of the creators. We hope that the problems will be resolved in the near future.

Invisible dialogues have their own characteristics:

• Viber secrets are available to device owners with operating system And ;
• it is possible to set the option to self-destruct messages, starting from 1 minute and up to a week;
• if the interlocutor takes a screenshot of the correspondence, you will receive a notification about this and will be able to resolve the situation;
• texts cannot be copied and forwarded to third parties;
• End-to-end encryption will protect Viber secrets on the phone, since only the one who sends and receives can decrypt them.

Now you know what a secret chat in Viber is and you can be sure that it can store.

How to create a secret chat

Many users are wondering: how to create a secret chat in Viber? There are two ways this can be done, and they are all quite simple.

• go to the application;
• go to the contacts section;
• select the right person by scrolling or through search and click on it;
• click on the line “Free message”;
• in the open dialog box, select the icon with three vertical dots;
• Click "Go to secret chat."

• open the messenger;
• click on the “+” icon in the blue circle, which is located in the lower right corner of the monitor;
• select the line “Secret chat”;
• add an interlocutor from the list;
• check "Done".

If you need to hide an existing conversation, follow these steps:

• go to the dialogue section;
• stop at the one you want to make secret;
• open the auxiliary menu (three dots at the top of the display);
• Click on the “Go to secret chat” item.

That's it! You have a hidden correspondence in Viber ready.

Delete messages in a secret conversation

After discussing an important topic, many are interested in how to disable secure chat in Viber. This is done like this:

• go to a secret conversation with a picture of a castle;
• click on the icon with three vertical dots located on the right top corner to open additional information;
• go to “Information and Settings”;
• select the line “Go to regular chat”.

This way, you switch the private conversation to traditional mode, which will not delete messages. But there will still be two conversations on the device: one normal, the second with a lock. If the need for secret correspondence arises again, you can simply go to the existing one; for this, the PIN code is entered again.

If you are thinking about how to delete a secret chat from Viber altogether, there is nothing complicated about it either.

• go to the list of conversations;
• tap on an unwanted conversation and hold your finger on it;
• in the window that appears, select the “Delete chat” line.

Now you know how to remove a secret chat in Viber if there is no longer a need for its secrecy or existence.

Not to be confused with hidden conversation

Some users make a mistake and enable hidden conversation. A hidden conversation differs from a secret conversation in that information is not deleted in it. If you discussed some important event that you should not know about strangers, and want to save the content, in this case you hide the dialog using a special option.

Probably many beginners are interested in how to open hidden chat in Viber, and also what are these so-called hidden chats created for?

Purpose of hidden chats

Following some other instant messengers, Viber developers also decided to further ensure the confidentiality of communications for their users. Of course, enhanced encryption protocols still work just fine. But sometimes you need to hide correspondence not from the eyes of hackers, but from. for example, an annoying or overly nosy roommate. Or from parents.

And in this case, no encryption protocols will help. You can, of course, set a lock on your smartphone. Yes, this can also be very useful, but the so-called hidden chats in Viber are additional guarantee that the information will not fall into the wrong hands. The point is that all messages sent and received in such a chat cannot be read without knowing the secret PIN code. It is invented by the user himself. And in this way you can protect any chat by turning it into a secret one. In addition, such chats do not appear on the Chats page.

It’s as if they don’t exist at all; only the owner of the device knows about their existence. So, even if the phone is stolen, nothing from the correspondence in such a chat will be seen by prying eyes. When you receive a message inside a secret chat, a notification about who exactly it came from will not even appear on the screen. The system simply shows that a new message has arrived. That's all. You can turn any chat into a hidden chat. In the same way, any hidden one can be turned into a regular chat at any time.

How to open messages in hidden chat

As soon as a notification about a new received message appears on the screen, you can read it. To open a hidden chat, you will need:

1. Open the Viber application;
2. Go to the Chats section;
3. Click on the on-screen button in the form of a magnifying glass (upper right corner);
4. After which the system will prompt you to enter the previously invented PIN;
5. If the code matches, then all hidden chats that are on the device will be displayed;
6. You can start using them like regular chats.

If the PIN code is forgotten, then, alas, nothing can be done in this case. If you know how to view a hidden chat in Viber, as well as how to use this function in general, you can significantly expand your capabilities in terms of everyday use of this communication application.

Viber's competitors have long modified their applications, adding the ability to communicate anonymously. This function significantly increases the popularity of the product among users, as it gives them greater security. Finally, this feature has been added to Viber. Now you don’t have to worry about your correspondence and its availability to a wide range of people.

How exactly does secret chat work?

In appearance, private chats look the same as regular ones. But they have a padlock icon next to them, which indicates that these messages were transmitted using an encrypted connection. But these are not all the possibilities.

For these types of dialogues, you can set any time period after which messages in automatic mode will be deleted. Therefore, even if someone gets unauthorized access to your device - it will be disappointed. Now you know that this is a secret chat in Viber.

Create a secret chat

You can go directly from the regular dialogue

As you can see, this method is much faster than the first.

Setting up auto-delete

The anonymity architecture is provided by an end-to-end encryption system. In it, to read the information, you need an access key. Which is issued only to the sender and recipient. Even if unauthorized access is obtained, the attacker will not be able to read the messages.