How To Decrypt Whatsapp backup From Non-Rooted Device (Step By Step)

Whatsapp apllications is the top instant messaging application worldwide as of December 2014. Whatsapp messages are highly useful especially when the mobile phone is password-protected, corrupted or Non- Rooted. The only drawback is that these backups are now encrypted due to the urgency of security awarness in mobile phone instant messaging. Not only it encrypts the data being sent and received but whatsapp has also encrypted the backup databases....

In a brief, Whatsapp automatically backup its messages into SQLite3 database and store it in Whatsapp Folder of your Android Phone. The folder is either located in your device's memory or external SD Card.

About this how-to

This how-to is demonstrating on how to decrypt whatsapp backup with crypt7 encryption. To decrypt crypt7 whatsapp backup database, you will need a cipher key. To obtain the key, the device must first be rooted. The key is located at this path /data/data/files/com.whatsapp/key. If you have a device that is not rooted and you decided not to (digital forensics best practices!), this how-to will tell you how by using an application originally developed by TripCode and updated by Abinash Bishoyi, called WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor .

WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor

The purpose of this script is to provide a method for WhatsApp users to extract their cipher key on Non-Rooted Android devices. This script will also extract the latest unencrypted WhatsApp Message Database (msgstore.db) and Contacts Database (wa.db).

This script has been successfully tested on Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 and mobile phones with Android version 4.0 or higher.

Prerequisites:

1. A windows ( Vista,7 or 8) workstation
2. A mobile phone with Android version 4.0 or higher
3. A mobile phone with Whatsapp application version that create backup files with crypt6 / crypt7 / crypt 8 encryption. External SD card is not necessary.

Step 1 : Install Java...

Step 2: Install Android Debug Bridge (ADB) Drivers, It is recommended that you have your Internet connection on. While installing they might have to retrieve something from the other sites.

Step 3: On your mobile phone, turn on the USB Debugging mode found in Developers Options.

Step 4: Download & extract WhatsAppKeyExtract.zip  on your computer, maintaining the directory structure. Extract it to your desktop would be fairly fine.

 Step 5: After the WhatsAppKeyExtract.zip has been successfully extracted, browse into the folder and run a bat file called WhatsAppKeyExtract.bat.

Step 6: Connect your mobile device to your workstation. Wait until all necessary drivers are installed. Make sure all drivers are installed. Failing at this point will causes your mobile phone not detected by WhatsAppKeyExtract.bat.

Step 7: Unlock your mobile phone screen saver (if any) and wait for “Full backup” to be displayed on the screen of the device.

Step 8 : Leave the password field blank and click on “Back up my data”. Wait awhile until WhatsAppKeyExtract window says “Done!”.

Step 9: Browse inside the WhatsAppKeyExtract folder, find a folder called extracted.

Step 10: Inside the extracted folder, you will find 3 generated files

• Key.db – the key!
• Msgstore.db  – decrypted whatsapp backup
• Wa.db – contacts

There you go. Now you have the key, the decrypted crypt7 whatsapp backup and the contacts. Now that you have the three extracted data from WhatsAppKeyExtractor, there are several software for you to view the messages such as SQLite viewer, Whatsapp Viewer.