How secure are WhatsApp voice calls?

One of the most famous messaging apps in the world is WhatsApp, a system owned by Meta. The software is used by over two billion individuals, sending over 55 billion messages daily. Therefore, it is not surprising that spam, malware threats and security issues are becoming more prevalent when it comes to the platform.

Integrated Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is expected to reach 204.8 billion business consumers, becoming an essential business tool. Many of the popular communication platforms offer VoIP as well as messaging and video calling, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. It seems that the goal of WhatsApp is to become a versatile consumer platform, but how secure are WhatsApp voice calls in its current form in terms of privacy and data protection?

Here’s everything you need to know about the most common security flaws and scams involving voice calls on WhatsApp.

Is WhatsApp Voice Calling really ensure?

Given how long VoIP calling services have been around, you’d assume that any flaws in the basic call connection protocols would have been ironed out by now. However, each service’s actual implementation varies slightly.

Offering end-to-end encrypted conversations, as WhatsApp notably does, makes things tougher, but the nature of WhatsApp makes their encryption somewhat pointless. End-to-end encryption is important, but security experts have long warned that the most vulnerable time for your data is when it is stored or presented at one end or the other, whether on a screen, a disk, in memory, or on a cloud-based device.

If someone can take over a device, they can read the messages and listen to conversations without having to decrypt them. Additionally, it is becoming easier and easier to compromise endpoints, including voice calls on smartphones, with WhatsApp often being used as a route to users’ phones based on the open and unprotected nature of their solution.

Security flaws when using WhatsApp for calls

You may remember back in 2019 that WhatsApp’s voice calls were used to inject Israeli spyware into users’ mobile phones. Attackers were able to install spyware on both iPhone and Android phones by calling targets using the phone call feature of the app, which was discovered in early May 2019. The spyware vendor claimed that the malicious code, created by the hidden Israeli business NSO Group, could be transferred even if users did not answer their phones, and the calls often disappeared from the call logs.

Pegasus, the company’s flagship tool, can activate a phone’s microphone and camera, search through email and text messages, and gather location information. This attack is a prime example of how easily WhatsApp can be hacked via their voice calls and has all the telltale signs of coming from a private company known to work with governments to distribute spyware that allegedly hijacks the functions of mobile phone operating systems.

How to prevent your voice calls from being hacked

According to WhatsApp’s own terms of use, it is not recommended to use the platform for business or professional purposes:

“You will not use (or assist others to use) our Services in ways that:

(f) involve any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorized by us.”

WhatsApp protects itself from the dangers associated with business-related chats by mentioning this in their T&Cs. In other words, you can’t blame WhatsApp if a security issue or data breach occurs as a result of using the platform to distribute fixed information to your staff. You have been warned!

Having a specialized secure app designed for workplace communication is arguably the best option for keeping your business conversations secure when all the aforementioned threats are taken into consideration. Since there have been high-profile issues with WhatsApp’s desktop software, messaging and phone calls as well as the messaging service, many users are seeking alternatives for their sensitive business calls. There are still questions about how secure WhatsApp voice calls are due to cybercriminals setting up phishing sites that resemble WhatsApp Web, spam forwarded messages, and third-party apps that can intercept WhatsApp voice calls. The privacy of data, especially for those using an integrated platform for business, cannot be emphasized enough.

Spammers, fraudsters and hackers are literally crawling over consumer communication platforms like WhatsApp on a daily basis. Yet companies continue to exchange sensitive internal data on these platforms every day. One voice call on WhatsApp is enough to establish surveillance, so take action now for your business before it’s too late.

With Salt Communications, voice calls in our system are made with the highest quality AES-256 encryption, which ensures that no unauthorized users can listen to your confidential conversations. With additional security measures in place below the surface, Salt Communications is the best tool for confidential business communications. Many of the security issues with consumer platforms come as a result of a lack of control for users and especially when those users are employees of an organization. Salt offers a solution to these problems, providing a closed and managed service that can be deployed under the full control of the organizations we sell to. With this control, you as a business can lock down many of the vulnerabilities associated with consumer platforms.

To sign up for a free trial of Salt Communications, contact us at [email protected] or visit our website at