WhatsApp & Email Security: New Steps to Thwart Rising Scams
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting email and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, exploiting vulnerabilities to access personal data. A recent report by TF1 highlights critical steps users can take now to bolster their account security and mitigate risk. Millions of WhatsApp and email users are potentially vulnerable to account takeovers and scams, with financial loss and privacy breaches as potential consequences.Implementing stronger security measures is no longer optional, but essential for protecting sensitive information in an evolving threat landscape.
The first line of defense is upgrading account authentication. Users relying on single-factor authentication should promptly enable two-factor authentication. This adds a crucial layer of security by requiring both a password and a unique code sent to your email address for login. To activate this, navigate to Settings, then Account, and select Two-Step Verification, providing your personal code and registered email address.
Beyond email, WhatsApp offers several privacy settings to limit exposure. Within the Privacy tab, users can adjust their Last Seen & Online visibility to “My Contacts” to prevent appearing constantly connected. Further enhancing privacy, profile photos can be restricted to only visible to contacts. Additionally, WhatsApp’s disappearing message feature, found in the Privacy settings, allows users to automatically delete messages after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days, reducing the long-term risk of compromised data. These adjustments collectively make it substantially harder for malicious actors to execute scams on the platform.
