To face these restrictions, the Mita-owned WhatsApp application recently announced the launch of an important new feature for application users, which allows the application to be bypassed by using the Proxy Server tool, which allows users in countries where government authorities prohibit “WhatsApp” from accessing the application and messaging with others through it.
The company stated in an official statement that Internet users in Iran have been suffering for several months from blocking Internet services and access to all Meta services, and this deprives people of exercising their legitimate rights, and prevents them from receiving urgent assistance when needed.
prevent ban
In this regard, Fadi Ramzi, a professor of digital media at the American University in Cairo, says that the “proxy” tool acts as an intermediary between the device (phone) or service and the Internet, which means that when a government blocks the “WhatsApp” application, users can enter the “proxy” address. server” within the application settings, which means bypassing the blocking or blocking, and the ability to access instant messaging services from the application.
He explains that the proxy tool is traffic from inside the country and not outside it, but it does not threaten the security and privacy of users. Because it is not necessary in information security to generalize the idea of hacking of all kinds, the success achieved by the tool in the emergence of the application within the prohibited countries, is not required to pose a threat to the penetration of other data.
Access to WhatsApp was blocked in many countries including China, North Korea, Syria and Iran. Some countries that temporarily blocked the app after expanding internet censorship during the protests include Brazil, Cuba, Iran and Venezuela.
Existing crisis
In his interview with Sky News Arabia, Ramzy refers to the crisis facing Mita in general recently, when its use has become unpopular for many countries, especially the applications (Facebook and Instagram), after all the cases that were filed against them because of Intentionally posting content that is harmful to teens.
And he adds: “I think that this pressure on Mita with all its platforms will remain, and will even increase more on the part of the European Union in the coming period, and the proxy tool that the company recently launched to activate the “WhatsApp” application in countries that ban it, can be countered through Other technologies that governments can use.
“Ramzy” continues, explaining: “There is a constant struggle between implementing the security system and hacking or circumventing it. It is difficult to find a technology that is fully applied, or a technology that is very easy and easy to penetrate. There will always be updates and developments regarding the details of the technology.”
ban effect
The digital media professor concludes: “Citizens in countries that ban the WhatsApp application are not greatly affected, as there are many alternatives that they can use through other social media platforms. Sometimes it becomes difficult at first to deal with the new platforms available in their countries, but with the passage of Time will get used to it.
Ayman Salah, an expert in digital communication sciences, also agrees with him, stressing that countries that ban “WhatsApp” for various reasons, their citizens use other platforms such as “WeChat” in China, which finds great demand from the Chinese, whether inside or outside their country. Which made “WhatsApp” launch this new feature to counter blocking inside China.
The Chinese authorities have banned the application due to its end-to-end encryption, a mechanism that prevents them from reading messages sent through the application, but the Chinese government allows the use of Skype – a similar application – but it does not contain this type of encryption.
Expensive
In his interview with “Sky News Arabia”, Salah explains that the new feature announced by “WhatsApp” is a technology very close to the VPN method to allow access to the application within countries that ban it, such as any social networking platform that is banned in a particular country, It can be accessed through the use of proxy tools.
And he continues: “The new software in the application creates its own channel that enables it to bypass the ban inside any country, by relaying the communication to other countries away from the countries that ban the application, and this can be used with any electronic application, not only “WhatsApp”, but the application must achieve The user of this technology has huge profits, because the use of the proxy tool is very expensive.”
And he concludes: “The proxy relies on security vulnerabilities that enable it to enter restricted areas, but this also threatens the security of the device that uses the application, because it is not possible to predict the extent of this vulnerability to other data.”
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