In its new ‘Stay safe with WhatsApp’ campaign, the firm introduced new methods empowering users with their online safety. Read to know more about the new WhatsApp features.
What are the new WhatsApp features?
On Thursday, WhatsApp introduced a new security feature that will be provided in the upcoming months. They are aiming to provide users “extra layers of privacy and more control over their messages.” They come a day after the launch of its ‘Stay safe with WhatsApp’ campaign focusing on user safety. The new features are Account Protect, Device Verification, and Automatic Security Code.
WhatsApp’s new Account Protect feature provides users with an extra layer of protection when changing their devices. The platform will check if the user is asking for a device change. To provide this, the instant messaging may ask users to verify the change on their old device.
More on the new introductions
WhatsApp’s ‘Device Verification’ is a security-focused feature preventing attackers from using on-device malware. It does not need action or additional steps from the users. Hence making it an integral part of the app working to enhance security against growing malware threats. Moreover, it cannot be impersonated by malware that steals authentication keys and tries to send messages from outside the device. Additionally, it has three perimeters of security ensuring its success.
Lastly, the ‘Automatic Security Code’ is a cryptographic security feature that automatically verifies a secured connection based on key transparency. Similar to devise verification this is an in-built feature. Key transparency is a protocol where the server maintains an append record between the user and their authentication key. This is vital in ensuring the strength of end-to-end encryption. The Meta-owned platform is also developing an open-sourced library-based Auditable Key Directory. This is going to help its users to validate the genuineness of their encryption key automatically.