WhatsApp has always took pride on its encrypted messages, but lately that feature was compromised when Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood is confirmed to have used the app before the deadly attack. According to reports, authorities had a hard time cracking the message because of the encryption.

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While authorities have not yet confirmed the exact message sent, they believe that the last WhatsApp message sent by Masood has everything to do with the attack. In a plea from Home Secretary Amber Rudd addressed to app developers like WhatsApp, she asked if they can make an exception to let authorities access such messages in order to help prevent such attack.

According to the Chicago Suntimes, Rudd made the plea saying "We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp - and there are plenty of others like that - don't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other." The statement came after authorities attempted to retrieve Khalid Masood's WhatsApp message to no avail.

WhatsApp's predicament relieves Apple's previous case of breach of privacy against the FBI when the government agency asked Apple to allow them access to an iPhone allegedly used during the San Bernardino, California attack. Apple stood by its regulations that eventually prodded the FBI to hack the giant tech's system.

Khalid Masood's act of terrorism killed one police officer and injured several pedestrians when he purposely drove a rented SUV into pedestrians. He was eventually shot by other police officers in order to subdue the attack. Since the attack, at least 12 people have been arrested on suspicion of acts of terrorism. According to the SCMP, Rudd is very disappointed by the lack of accessibility on the attacker's latest WhatsApp message. "You can't have a situation where you have terrorists talking to each other - where this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message - and it can't be accessed. There should be no place for terrorists to hide.