Africa: Whatsapp Head Will Cathcart - the Spyware Industry Is Undermining Freedom

Will Cathcart is the chief executive of WhatsApp, the downloadable messaging app used by millions around the world as a primary means of communication. WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, meaning messages shared via the platform are, under normal circumstances, highly secure--a feature that has made it attractive for journalists, human rights defenders, and other vulnerable users, particularly in repressive environments.

Cathcart has been outspoken about threats to security, including so-called backdoors, which governments argue would give law enforcement much-needed access to encrypted communications, but which would also be vulnerable to malicious hacking. Cathcart has also been highly critical of the NSO Group, the Israeli firm that has marketed Pegasus spyware to governments around the world. Pegasus can be surreptitiously implanted on smartphones, giving governments unfettered access to all communications on the phone--and bypassing the encryption that WhatsApp and other secure apps like Signal apply to messages in transit.

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