WhatsApp gets new approval process against cybercriminals

WhatsApp is a widely used platform and therefore many cyber criminals know where to find it. You can enable two-step verification, but not everyone thinks about it, or accidentally uses it to give cybercriminals access. WhatsApp is now putting a stop to that, because it comes with a new approval prompt.

New approval procedure

If you want to log in to WhatsApp, for example because you are moving your WhatsApp account from an old to a new phone, you will soon receive a login prompt on your old device. This means that WhatsApp checks whether it is correct that a new device is logged in. If you are not lucky enough that you have a new device and there is probably a cyber criminal using your WhatsApp, you will notice that because it will appear on your device promptly. Tip: do not give access.

The approval pop-up also shows what time and from which device your WhatsApp is being logged in. That helps you better to see whether it is a malicious person or not. WABetaInfo says this feature is still under development, meaning we probably won’t have it on WhatsApp tomorrow. In any case, it first has to go through the beta test, where it has not yet appeared at the moment. It is not yet clear when this will take place.

whatsapp

It’s a handy extra, but it can get even bigger. For example, there are experts who expect that the SMS-based login procedure may even be replaced by this new procedure. That texting procedure may then become a kind of backstop for when you don’t have access to your ‘old’ device. In addition, the feature would come to WhatsApp’s companion mode, which is used to transfer your account to a second phone or tablet.

It’s not a crazy move by WhatsApp: brother and sister Instagram and Facebook have been doing it for some time.

Do you think this is a good development of WhatsApp, or would you rather see another solution? Leave it in the comments to this article.