Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is planning to unify the underlying messaging infrastructure of its WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and incorporate end-to-end encryption to these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The three services will, however, continue as stand alone apps, the Times report said, citing four people involved in the effort.

Facebook (FB) said it is working on making more of its messaging products end-to-end encrypted, and considering ways to make it easier for users to connect across networks.

"There is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work," a spokesperson said.

After the changes, a Facebook user, for instance, will be able send an encrypted message to someone who has only a WhatsApp account, according to the NYT report.

End-to-end encryption protects messages from being viewed by anyone except the participants in the conversation.