Viber- End to end Encryption, hidden chats, and more

Viber, following in the footsteps of Facebook and WhatsApp, has rolled out end-to-end encryption for all conversations. With version 6.0, every platform of Viber - Android, iOS, Mac, PC - and every communications channel - voice and video call, text message, video and photo share, regardless of whether it's a group chat and private message, will be encrypted. But that’s not all; Viber is providing other features like hidden chats, message deletion, and contact authentication as well.

"We take our users' security and privacy very seriously, and it's critical to us that they feel confident and protected when using Viber. Our team at Viber has been working hard to give you more control over your private conversations. Today we are taking another step in this direction by making your private communication even safer through end-to-end encryption, hidden chats, and message deletion,” Viber COO Michael Shmilov said in a blog post.

Viber,owned by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has more than 700 million registered users and will be rolling out the latest feature globally in next two weeks. “We’re rolling this out globally over the next two weeks, and you’ll see a grey padlock confirm you are secured. Additionally, we’ve ensured each user has an individual cryptography key associated with his or her device, allowing you to benefit from an added layer of security,” Shmilov said.

Viber is also launching a hidden chats feature that will allow users to hide specific chats from the main screen so no-one but the user knows they exist. Users can also manually authenticate contacts to select they are “trusted” that changes the lock color to green. “If you ever see a red lock it means there is a problem with the authentication key. The breach may simply mean that a user has changed his or her primary phone. However, it can also indicate a man-in-the-middle-attack. To solve a possible breach state, the participant needs to be re-trusted.”