WhatsApp New Security Features

WhatsApp set to roll out new security features in the near term to provide users with increased privacy and control over their messages and to help prevent unauthorized account access and takeover.

The first feature is called Account Protect and will help prevent unauthorized transfers of accounts from one device to another. This requires users to verify on their old device any attempts to switch to a new device.

The second feature is called Device Verification. WhatsApp is known for its use of end-to-end encryption to protect user privacy. This technology uses cryptographic keys to ensure that only the sender and intended recipient of a message can read its contents, and even WhatsApp itself can access them.

With this device verification, it provides an additional layer of security to ensure that the authentication key can not be stolen.

The third feature comes in the way of Automatic Security Codes. Users had to go through the process manually of end to end encryption: they had to tap the encryption tab under a contact’s info and scan the QR code on the recipient’s device or send them the 60-digit number through another platform.

The Automatic Security Codes feature is more convenient for users, since it automatically verifies if the connection is secure just by clicking on the encryption tab.

These implementation are automatic, But there are two security features that users are advised to enable themselves:

• Two-step verification adds an extra layer of security against account takeover attempts by requiring users to enter a code in addition to their password to access their account
• End-to-end encrypted backups ensure that users’ messages and data are encrypted even when backed up to the cloud.