Two solutions to trace the WhatsApp message origin: IIT-M professor

One of the most popular messenger app - WhatsApp, which is under pressure from the central government to enable messages traceability on its platform got two suggestions from IIT-M professor. In a report submitted to the Madras High Court, V Kamakoti a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and member of the National Security Advisory Board in the Prime Minister’s Office offers two solutions to the Facebook-owned WhatsApp.

Solutions

1 – In the first solution, V Kamakoti suggested to embed the originator information included along with each encrypted message. This enables each recipient of a WhatsApp message or forwards to know the identity of the person who originally sent the message.

2 – In the second solution, IIT professor said to keep the originator information with each forward but the recipient won’t be able to view it. The information will remain encrypted for the users but can be decoded to the law enforcement by WhatsApp, when and if demanded.

The Economic Time reported Kamakoti's submission to the High Court - “We provide two suggestions. However, WhatsApp Inc may have other methods for extracting original information”. Kamakoti also clarified that if any recipient is modified the message in any way, through copy and paste, text addition to images, audio or video, then that user will become the originator of the message.

The high court directed Kamkoti to check the possibility of his ideas on the technical grounds to trace the origin of WhatsApp messages.

Kamakoti mentioned in his report that WhatsApp has access and data of the user which it collects when the app is installed and users register themselves. This information includes hardware details – model no, operating system, browser information, IP address, mobile network and phone number of the person.