WhatsApp rolls out new security features

Great news for WhatsApp users, as the company has just announced it has kicked off the rollout of some important security features meant to protect accounts. The new features will provide WhatsApp users with extra layers of privacy, as well as more control over their personal messages.

First off, the latest update introduces a new security measure when a WhatsApp user wants to switch their account to a new device. Starting today, WhatsApp may ask users on their old devices to verify that they really want to take this step as an extra security check. It’s an important feature that will help alert users in case of an unauthorized attempt to move their account to another device.

Another important addition to WhatsApp is device verification. In order to prevent mobile device malware from taking advantage of their people’s phones without their permission and use their WhatsApp to send unwanted messages, the app has added special security checks.

These checks will help authenticate an account (with no action needed from the user) and, hopefully, better protect the user if their device has been compromised. For more details on how this actually works under-the-hood, you can check out Meta’s post.

Last but not least, WhatsApp’s automatic security codes feature has just received an upgrade. The upgrade consists of a new security feature based on a process called “Key Transparency,” which should allow WhatsApp users to automatically verify that they have a secure connection.

Starting today, users will be able to tap on the encryption tab to verify immediately that their conversation is secured. More details about the new security feature are available on Meta’s Engineering website.

Although the new security features will automatically be added to each user’s device, there are two features that must actually be turned on: two-step verification and use of end-to-end encrypted backups. Don’t forget to switch these on if you want an extra layer of security.