Viber can comprehend the fate of Telegram, if security services can not get encryption keys from the service, Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said. The application offers end-to-end encryption and is the most popular instant messenger in several countries of Eastern Europe. Recently, its executive director Mikhail Shmilov, said that the company will not be able to fulfill the demand for the issuance of keys.
"This issue concerns the FSB, which has the authority to implement an order for the provision of encryption keys. If the special services have problems with obtaining the keys, they can apply to the court and achieve a similar decision, "said Nikiforov, whom is quoted by ITAR-TASS.
The minister faced the question of the future of Viber after the Russian authorities tried to block Telegram. This process lasts from April 16, but until now has not had much success.
In March, Viber Media's chief operating officer, the messenger operator, told RBC that Viber will not be able to comply with the government's request for the transfer of encryption keys. Mikhail Shmilov noted that the company cooperates with law enforcement agencies of many countries, and stressed that it will not fundamentally do a number of certain things. Passing encryption keys is one of them.
"We can not give them what we do not have. They can ask users for their keys. We do not see them, and we do not keep them, "he explained.
Viber was launched as an instant messaging and voice over IP service in 2010. The software was originally developed by the Israeli company Viber Media, which was purchased by the Japanese company Rakuten in 2014. Last year, the company's name was changed to Rakuten Viber. Currently, the company is based in Luxembourg.
The messenger with a base of about 900 million users is very popular in Eastern Europe and is the best messaging app in countries such as Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. In Russia, this is the second most popular application after Whatsapp. According to a poll conducted by the Russian Institute for Modern Media Research in January, Whatsapp's Facebook share is 59% of Russian users, while Viber uses 36%. The messenger of the Russian social network Vkontakte takes the third place with 32%. Telegram is used by 19% of Russians, and Facebook Messenger - 14%.
According to the company's website, Viber by default uses end-to-end encryption for text messages in private as well as in group chats, as well as for voice calls. The function was introduced in the standard setting in 2016. Shmilov claims that the company does not have access to conversations and does not store messages on its servers. The keys for encrypting / decrypting data are stored only on client devices in accordance with Viber's privacy policy.
Earlier on April 30, the Iranian government blocked Telegram, accusing the messenger of organizing riots, following in this decision for the Russian government, which took a similar decision after Durov refused to give keys.