Today, the WhatsApp messaging app is no longer just used to keep in touch with family or friends.
It is also used to communicate with colleagues, superiors, even with brands and to make payments via the app.
It is therefore important to prevent your account from being hacked.
It could have dire consequences or just be boring.
We explain how to prevent this from happening.
Enable 2-step verification
The first thing to do to prevent your WhatsApp account from being hacked is to strengthen its security.
The easiest way to do this is to activate two-step verification.
This makes it possible to reinforce the security of your account since you will have to enter the PIN code that you have chosen at regular intervals, in order to verify that you are the owner of the account.
To activate the option, go to the WhatsApp settings, Account option and select "Two-step verification".
You will then need to enter a 6-digit code and enter your email address.
This way, if you forget your 6-digit code, WhatsApp can send you an email to reset it.
Fingerprint lock
To enhance the security of your account, you can also enable fingerprint unlock.
In this way, no one will be able to access your WhatsApp conversations since it will imperatively be necessary to scan your fingerprint to access the messaging application.
Its activation is very simple, just go to the Settings of the app, Account option, then Privacy.
At the very bottom, select "Fingerprint lock" and choose automatic lock "immediately".
This way, you will have to scan your fingerprint to open the app and access your conversations.
Note that it will still be possible to answer WhatsApp phone calls, even if the app is locked.
On some smartphones, it is also possible to use facial recognition to secure your account.
Avoid answering unknown numbers
Unfortunately, it is not possible to block messages from unknown numbers. As long as someone has your phone number, they can contact you through WhatsApp - if you have an account, of course. And that obviously represents a risk. Many phishing campaigns are also spread by SMS and therefore, via WhatsApp. Some hackers do not hesitate to play on the sensitive chord to bait you, to impersonate a loved one to make you click on a link, send them money or give them personal information. The objective is obviously to rip you off. A scam of this type is also in progress at the time of writing this article.
This is particularly well run since it masquerades as an SMS authentication message containing a 6-digit code.
A contact will then contact you to ask you to transfer this famous code that was sent to you by mistake.
If you do, you can leave your account behind.
Your contact's phone has actually been hacked and a malicious person asks you for the PIN code that is actually yours.
In general, beware of unknown numbers that contact you, even if they are (supposedly) from WhatsApp.
You can do a web search to verify the bona fide of the number.
Avoid keeping your chats in the cloud
WhatsApp offers its users to save their conversations online, in the cloud. A very practical feature that allows you to easily transfer your discussions from one smartphone to another when you change phones or connect to the web version of the app. Unfortunately, this option suffers from a big problem: it does not take into account end-to-end encryption.
So if your Google Drive or iCloud account gets hacked, your WhatsApp conversations will be exposed.
The best way to avoid this is to turn off the backup of your chats in the cloud.
It all depends on what you prefer;
the confidentiality of your exchanges on WhatsApp or the simplicity of transferring your conversations.
Note that you can very well save your conversations in the cloud in anticipation of a change of smartphone.
You can then deactivate and delete your backup.
To turn off the backup of your WhatsApp chats to the cloud, go to the application's settings, Discussions option, then Chat backup.
Then select "Save to Google Drive / iCloud" and tap "Never" or "Only when I press save", for example.
Check security code
One of the strengths of WhatsApp is that the conversations are end-to-end encrypted.
This ensures total confidentiality of the messages exchanged, unless the security code of a conversation is exposed or different for the different participants.
When creating a chat on WhatsApp, a 60-digit security code is created.
This is proof that the conversation is end-to-end encrypted.
If the participants of the same discussion have the same codes, then their exchanges are secure.
If this is not the case, your conversation is not secure, which exposes your messages to possible hacking.
If your contact recently reinstalled the messaging app or changed their smartphone, it's normal that the code isn't the same, but your conversation is no longer completely secure. To fix this, all you have to do is send him a new message or scan his QR code to secure your conversation (more information, here) and thus, find end-to-end encryption.
You can also verify that your security code is the same by scanning the QR code of the conversation you have with a contact.
To do this, go to the conversation, option Show contact, then Encryption.
If you are not next to each other, you can send the 60-digit code to your contact - by text or email - to verify that you have the same.
If not, your conversation is not secure with end-to-end encryption for one reason or another.
It is therefore not recommended to exchange sensitive information via this conversation.
It is obviously not recommended to share the security codes of your conversations.
If it is not enough to hack a thread, it can make it easier for hackers.
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