WhatsApp Adds 3 New Security Features to Protect Accounts From Scams and Takeovers
WhatsApp is rolling out three new security features designed to make account takeovers, scam calls and social-engineering attacks harder to carry out.
The latest updates focus on account authentication, access recovery and giving users more information about calls from unknown numbers. WhatsApp is upgrading two-step verification, allowing multiple passkeys on a single account and adding caller context for numbers that are not saved in a user’s contacts.
WhatsApp strengthens two-step verification
WhatsApp is enhancing its existing two-step verification system by allowing users to replace the traditional six-digit PIN with an alphanumeric password that can include special characters.
The change gives users the option to create a significantly stronger second credential. A six-digit PIN has one million possible combinations, while passwords containing letters, numbers and symbols can offer a much larger range of possibilities.The existing PIN system was already protected against repeated guessing attempts, but the new option gives users greater flexibility to strengthen their accounts.
Unknown callers will provide more information
WhatsApp is also adding additional context for calls from unknown numbers. On Android, users can see the caller’s country and whether they share any WhatsApp groups with that person.
The information could help users determine whether an unfamiliar caller has a legitimate connection to them before answering. However, users should still remain cautious, since scammers can potentially join groups to gain access to other members.By displaying this information before a call is answered, WhatsApp aims to give users more context when deciding whether to accept or ignore an unfamiliar call.
Multiple passkeys are coming to WhatsApp
WhatsApp is expanding its passkey support by allowing users to add more than one passkey to the same account.
This could be particularly useful for people who use multiple smartphones or switch between Android and iOS devices. Each trusted device can have its own passkey, reducing the friction involved in securing an account across devices.WhatsApp says more than 1 billion users have already set up passkeys. With the platform serving more than 3 billion users globally, there remains considerable scope for wider adoption.
WhatsApp takes a broader approach to security
The latest features show that WhatsApp is focusing on more than just protecting the technical security of its accounts. The company is also giving users more information to help them identify potentially suspicious interactions.
That approach becomes increasingly important as WhatsApp expands privacy-focused features such as usernames, which can reduce the need to expose a phone number when interacting with new people or businesses.Stronger two-step verification and multiple passkeys are designed to protect account access, while additional caller information gives users greater control over who they interact with.
The bigger challenge for WhatsApp will be keeping up with increasingly sophisticated scams while preserving the convenience that has made the messaging platform so widely used.