HOW COULD THE NCB HAVE GOTTEN ACCESS TO WHATSAPP CHATS?
In the face of such strict encryption protocols, can an entity gain access into an individual’s WhatsApp chats?
In the case of the current investigation into members of the Hindi film industry’s links with narcotics, the most plausible explanation is that the NCB may have gotten access to selective screenshots.
However, on the question of how one can actually gain access into an individual’s WhatsApp, Tiwari says there are three technical but highly unlikely scenarios.
First, the most pervasive and consistent way in which the state or a law enforcement agency can get access to chats is through spyware like Pegasus that was used to hack into the phones of over a hundred Indian citizens in 2019.
Second, there are vulnerabilities that allow decryption of messages in transit. While a chat is in transit from one to another, the…