WhatsApp to add new security features to protect users from hackers

Apr 14, 2023 09:39 am

Messaging platform WhatsApp on Thursday announced a range of new security features aimed at making it more difficult for hackers to take over users’ accounts.

These tools, which will be added to the Meta-owned app in the coming months, introduce extra checks to ensure that people are who they say they are.

One of the features called “Account Protect” will be activated when users switch their WhatsApp account to a new device. They may receive an alert on their old device that asks them to verify if they really wish to do so. Getting an unexpected alert could mean someone is trying to steal your account.

Another feature coined “Device Verification” serves a similar function by ensuring that attackers are not able to install malware to access users’ personal messages. This tool works in the background, needing no action from the user.

Third, a tool called “Automatic Security Codes” allows users to check if they are really messaging the person they believe they are chatting with. Building on an existing feature, this can still be done manually but a new version of it will soon automatically verify that the connection is secure.

WhatsApp said in a blog post on its website: “Protecting your personal messages with default end-to-end encryption is the foundation of that security and we will keep building new features to give you extra layers of privacy.”