What is graphic design? A begWhatsApp remains the most popular messenger in the world. And what’s most surprising is that it’s also one of the safest. In this post, we’ll talk about why that is and tell you how to better protect your WhatsApp communications with the right privacy and security settings, and your smartphone with our security solutions .
WhatsApp End-to-End Encryption: Always On
The most important thing to know about WhatsApp security is that all correspondence in it is securely protected by end-to-end encryption. To do this, WhatsApp uses the Signal Protocol , developed by the creators of the independent secure messenger Signal . Note that this is an open protocol, so anyone (with the appropriate knowledge and skills, of course) can study its source code for errors or backdoors.
This ensures that even WhatsApp itself does not have the technical ability to read its users’ messages. Nor will they be read by attackers who somehow manage to intercept these messages – during the forwarding process or, say, as a result of hacking WhatsApp servers.
Making WhatsApp Communication Even Safer with Settings
So, we’ve covered what makes WhatsApp secure at a basic level. Now let’s talk about how you can protect yourself even better from unauthorized access to your correspondence, surveillance, and other security and privacy threats. To do this, WhatsApp needs to be set up correctly – and that’s what we’ll do now.
How to protect WhatsApp from hijacking
The first thing you should do is protect your WhatsApp account from being hijacked. In the messenger, accounts are linked to phone numbers. Accordingly, if someone gets hold of your number, they will be able to log into your WhatsApp account. This can happen intentionally, during a SIM-swapping attack .
To protect yourself from this threat, enable two-factor authentication in WhatsApp . To do this, go to Settings → Account → Two-step verification and set a PIN code with which you will confirm your account login.
You can also link an email address to your account, which will help you log into WhatsApp if you lose access to your phone number. To enable this option, go to Settings → Account → Email address .
In addition to the PIN code, WhatsApp has an alternative option for afghanistan whatsapp data confirming your account login: using the so-called passkey — we talked about what it is and how it works in a separate post . To enable this option, go to Settings → Account → Passkeys .
I also recommend checking the list of devices on which you are logged into your WhatsApp account from time to time. To do this, go to Settings → Linked devices . If you suddenly see something suspicious in this list, you should end this session just in case. To do this, select a device from the list and click Log out.
How to protect your WhatsApp conversations from prying eyes
The next thing to do is to make sure that no one can look into your correspondence if your phone falls into someone’s hands. To do this, of course, you must first enable the screen lock in the phone settings itself.
It’s also a good idea to enable a lock in the WhatsApp app in case you forget to lock your device. To do this, go to Settings → Privacy , scroll down almost to the bottom and find the App lock item . I recommend choosing After 1 minute — this is the best balance between security and convenience. In this case, when you switch from WhatsApp to another app, you will be able to return to the correspondence within a minute, and then you will need to unlock WhatsApp using your chosen method. However, keep in mind: if you forget your phone on the table with an open chat and the screen on, WhatsApp will not automatically lock until the screen goes dark.
Such chats do not appear in the general list, but instead go to a separate folder. To make a chat hidden, click on the interlocutor’s avatar, scroll down and select Close chat .
In some situations, you may need to quickly get rid of hidden chats and messages in them. WhatsApp makes it easy to do this with literally one button: to do this, go to Settings → Privacy → Close chat and click Open and clear all closed chats .
You can also use disappearing messages to protect your WhatsApp correspondence, and in two ways. First: set an individual timer for a separate chat. To do this, click on the interlocutor’s avatar, scroll down to the Disappearing messages item and select the desired value.
The second way: you can set a single timer for all new chats.
WhatsApp also allows you to send photos, videos, and voice messages with a single view.
How to Disable Blue Ticks in WhatsApp
If you don’t want your contacts to see read receipts for your messages, you can turn them off. To do this, go to Settings → Privacy , scroll down and turn off the switch next to Read receipts .
It is worth keeping in mind that this option works both ways: if you turn it off, you yourself will stop seeing blue check marks in correspondence. It is also important to know that this function does not apply to group chats: in them, information about reading messages will be available in any case.
Other privacy settings in WhatsApp
There are a few more items in Settings → Privacy WhatsApp that are also worth paying attention to. They allow you to configure who will have access to this or that information about you. It is difficult to give unambiguous recommendations here – everything depends on personal circumstances and preferences, but I will give the option that seems balanced to me:
Who sees my last seen time and online status → Nobody .
Profile photo → All .
Details → All .
Groups → My contacts .
Status → My contacts .
Calls → Mute unknown numbers .
How to check the authenticity of the interlocutor in WhatsApp
WhatsApp has a way to make sure that you are communicating with the person you think you are, and that no one has interrupted your conversation. For this purpose, each dialogue has a so-called security code – you can check it with your interlocutor by voice during a call or using some other communication channel. If the codes match, then everything is fine. To find this code, click on the interlocutor’s avatar in the chat and click on the Encryption button just below .
Don’t forget to protect the devices on which WhatsApp is installed
This can be either physical access or remote access – through spyware. Therefore, first of all, you need to take care of the security of these devices.
Turn on screen lock and set a secure unlock method.
Turn off notifications on the lock screen.
Use a reliable security solution on all your devices.