WhatsApp is currently the world’s most popular messaging app, with over two billion active monthly users.
But how secure is it?
Is it a suitable platform for sharing sensitive business information?
With news items popping up on a regular basis screaming dire warnings about WhatsApp security holes, how can you know what to believe?
Is WhatsApp secure?
Your most private and sensitive data on WhatsApp, your actual messages themselves, are private. Messages are end-to-end encrypted as they’re sent—only you and the other side of each message can decrypt its content. Even WhatsApp has no means of accessing content in transit. And while the messages are on your phone, they are protected by the security of your device.
Which is good to know.
However, there are potential security risks from using WhatsApp.
They are:
- the risk of malicious messages being sent to you which include malware that could install itself on your ‘phone. These could be cute cat pictures that have malicious code embedded in them, and the list goes on.
- the risk of being added to groups for malicious purposes, by a complete stranger.
- the risk of your account being hijacked, meaning that someone else has access to all of your account activity.
- backups of your WhatsApp data – these, unlike the original messages, are not secured.
How to secure against these risks
Make sure you do the following to protect yourself against these risks:
- disable the option to autosave images to your phone’s photo album or gallery.
- go into Settings > Account > Privacy > Groups, and change from (Everyone) to (My Contacts).
- DO NOT share the 6-digit code with ANYONE when you install WhatsApp on a device, and make sure you add a PIN number in your app.
- It is worth considering disabling the backup option (weigh up the risk against the inconvenience if you did lose your phone and all your whatsapp history).
datamills (UK) Ltd – helping you to stay safe whilst using WhatsApp messaging!