DEMAND FOR TURKISH APP RISE FOLLOWING SIGNAL AND TELEGRAM

Demand surges for Signal and Telegram messaging apps in the country following WhatsApp’s new data sharing policy that has ignited privacy concerns. Meanwhile, Turkish Presidency and Defense Ministry have moved their accounts to BiP, a Turkish app.

Secure communication solutions are now among the most discussed topics across the world amid rising concerns over data security. Developed by leading Turkish defense industry firm Havelsan, secure communications and instant messaging program “Havelsan ileti” has the world’s first and only white-box cryptography and is among the applications that have gained new popularity and have begun to be used by major corporations and institutions in Turkey, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said Sunday.

The development of technology and especially the widespread use of mobile technologies increase cyberattack risks. With these increasing threats of attacks, communication and information security on mobile platforms gain more importance.

Thanks to the White Box Cryptography Library Havelsan ileti uses, personal keys are protected in the software so that the capturing of keys is prevented.

The ileti, which means message in Turkish, first started to be used by the employees of Havelsan and is now made available to the personnel of the Presidency of Defense Industry (SSB), the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and the Competition Authority.

The program, developed by Havelsan engineers by producing original cryptography algorithms in cooperation with universities, has security technologies not included in existing mobile communication platforms.

With its security technologies, Havelsan ileti enables corporate personnel to communicate securely, protecting personal data and corporate data by preventing third-party communications.

The application can be installed and updated without using application stores such as the Google PlayStore or Apple Store, through the messaging app’s platform.

With Havelsan ileti, the institutions’ personnel can send messages, make secure voice and video calls, share media, documents and locations, and make collective meetings through corporate groups.

Havelsan General Manager Mehmet Akif Nacar told AA that the Havelsan ileti was developed according to the criteria under the Information and Communication Security Guide published by the Presidency Digital Transformation Office.

“Thanks to the White Box Cryptography Library, Havelsan ileti ensures that data is transmitted and stored securely with a high level of software security. With this feature, the ileti is one step ahead of other instant-messaging applications in terms of security. In addition to ensuring end-to-end communication security, extra measures regarding communication security have been taken in the messaging product, which can be installed on the servers of the institutions within the scope of information security,” he said.

Havelsan ileti, Nacar continued, “enables people to communicate quickly and increase productivity in working life in the age of technology we live in, with the support of securely integrating with the systems within the institutions.”

About Ileti Check here Check Havelsan products here

Demand rise for BiP

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, secure messaging service Telegram has become the most downloaded messaging app in Apple’s App Store in Turkey, followed by Signal, WhatsApp and BiP.

In the Android Play Store, Telegram was also the top download, followed by WhatsApp and BiP.

The Turkish presidency and Defence Ministry will move its WhatsApp groups to BiP, an app by Turkish mobile network giant Turkcell on January 11, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

The government’s Presidential Communications Directorate on 10 January said it would no longer be using WhatsApp to brief journalists and would exclusively use BiP.

The app, which was developed by mobile-phone operator Turkcell, at present boasts over 53 million users worldwide and gained more than a million new users in the past 24 hours, according to the company.

Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, which is headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, owns a majority stake in Turkcell.

The hashtag #WhatsAppSiliyoruz (We Are Deleting WhatsApp) has been trending on Twitter in Turkey in the past few days.

Some pointed out that BiP also collected the data of its users, including contacts, location, call and message data and profile photos. (Check Here)

Turkish drone maker Baykar Chief Executive Haluk Bayraktar who has a huge fan base on Twitter said he was leaving Whatsapp “because the company was imposing on users its controversial privacy agreement on personal data.”

Bayraktar suggested users install BiP app instead.

“Developed by Turkish engineers, it has a user-friendly interface. #BİP will always be installed on my phone,” he said.

Kullanıcı dostu bir uygulama olmayan #WhatsApp‘ı kişisel verilere yönelik gizlilik antlaşmasını ya kabul et ya da uygulamayı kullanamazsın dayatmasından dolayı terk ediyorum.#WatsAPPsiliyoruz

— Haluk Bayraktar (@haluk) January 10, 2021

Last week, WhatsApp sent its updated privacy policy to its users.

The changes include sharing personal data, such as account information, messages, and location information with Facebook companies.

It said the app could not be used unless the terms are not accepted.

New installs of WhatsApp fell 11 percent in the first seven days of 2021 compared with the prior week, but that still amounted to an estimated 10.5 million downloads globally, according to data analytics firm Sensor Tower.