The fact that Whatsapp has now become the world standard for sending messages from mobile phones, when news spreads about how it was possible until yesterday to spy on a smartphone using spyware that is installed following a call, makes a great stir. As the Hackernews website writes, Whatsapp recently patched a serious vulnerability that was exploited by attackers to remotely install spy malware (called Pegasus) on some "selected" smartphones (in the sense that they were specific targets, not surprisingly) by simply calling the their phone numbers via the Whatsapp audio call feature itself. This Whatsapp vulnerability has therefore been resolved in the latest version of the application and it is recommended for all users to install the update. Being Whatsapp so important and so popular, it is important to know how to put in place protect the smartphone from spy software, from malware and, in particular, to prevent conversations from being read by other people, especially those close to us (wives, husbands, boyfriends or friends). It should also be noted that you can spy on Whatsapp only with a little cunning, taking advantage of a person's carelessness, for those who can get their hands on the phone. If those who want to spy on the chats are smart enough, they can quickly organize themselves not only to read the chats from the phone, but also making sure to read all future messages sent and received, without the victim noticing.
Spy on Whatsapp
Spying on Whatsapp is therefore possible, just as it is possible to spy on the data of any smartphone remotely. To do this, however, it is necessary to install malware on the target phone or one of the simple and innocent spy apps that are easily found by searching on Google. For example, we can name commercial app names to control other phones (not free) that work without needing to get root permissions on Android and without Jailbreak on iPhone such as:- MSPY
- iKeyMonitor
- SpyMyPhone
- XNSpy
- TrackMyPhone
- Spyzie
- Flexispy
There are also more advanced techniques that allow you to spy on a phone and also Whatsapp without installing anything on the target smartphone, but only a few particularly capable people can be able to implement them effectively (for example by cloning the Mac Address of the phone to be spied on) can access their Whatsapp account from their mobile phone).
Protect Whatsapp from spyware, hackers and spy apps
To protect Whatsapp chats and not be spied on in any way, without getting lost with unnecessary precautions, there are 15 tips and advice to know and to adopt, all or almost according to your needs.1) Update the app
To protect chats and messages on Whatsapp, you don't have to do anything in particular, but it is very important that the application is always updated to the latest version . To do this, both on Android and on iPhone, you need to make sure that automatic updating is active within the stores, respectively Google Play Store and Apple Store.2) Use Whatsapp only with the official app
Those who use Whatsapp from other unofficial apps should stop doing so. As already reported a few years ago, Do not use Whatsapp Plus or Gold or any other unofficial app, because it may not be secure and easily steal user data.For the same reasons, never access other applications using your Whatsapp account.
3) Use the verification with two factors of Whatsapp
This is certainly the most effective way to secure Whatsapp and counter almost any attempt to hack or even clone the SIM. This method ensures that no one else can set our WhatsApp on their mobile phone without knowing the 6-digit secret code that becomes like a password.To activate two-step verification of the Whatsapp account you just need to go to Settings> Accounts .
4) Block WhatsApp
If necessary, you can protect Whatsapp by blocking access to the chat. Every time you open Whatsapp, you will be asked for an entry code or password.5) Protect the phone
You must then keep your phone protected, lock the screen to prevent someone from using it without permission and keep the software (Android and iOS) updated with the latest version .For additional security, you can also use one of those Apps to block the opening of applications on Android, adding another degree of protection to important apps such as Whatsapp or as well as the SMS app.
Those who are very cautious could also install an antivirus app on Android that will be able to detect spy apps and malware (although it will be completely useless in the case of malware that exploits Whatsapp bags as happened with the Pegasus spyware I mentioned at the beginning of the article).
6) Protect the SMS app
Without special hacker techniques, you can register Whatsapp on another smartphone simply by reading the confirmation code that you receive via SMS when you first log in. If a friend or someone close to us who knows our phone number installs Whatsapp from scratch and indicates to register it with our number, he will have to confirm the identity by entering a code that arrives via SMS at the indicated number. If this person can read our SMS, he will then be able to confirm access to our Whatsapp account on his smartphone. The SMS app is therefore essential to protect .7) Protect the Whatsapp backup account
Whatsapp saves chats and conversations daily on Google Drive if you use an Android smartphone and on iCloud if you use an iPhone. It goes without saying that if someone can access our Google Drive or iCloud account they can have access to the backup of past chats on Whatsapp and, therefore, extract all the data they want (even if they will still need to work on it since Whatsapp backups are encrypted).8) Attention to how to use Whatspap from the website
Using Whatsapp via website is very convenient to be able to chat on Whatsapp from the PC, but it is also the worst vulnerability of this application. The trick to spying on another person's Whatsapp from the website is to take a moment for their unlocked mobile phone (for example a friend who came to visit us at home), open the Whatsapp web page on the PC and enter by scanning the QR code with the smartphone of the person to be checked. Until this person notices that they have an open Whatsapp web session (now every time Whatsapp web is active, a notification appears on the phone) or until this person opens Whatsapp web himself from his PC, it becomes possible to spy any future conversation and chat without getting caught.That of Whatsapp web can also be a problem if you use another PC that is not ours or that we do not use only us going away without disconnecting. To protect yourself from these risks, never lose sight of your phone, make sure you have a lock screen and if you use Whatsapp Web, do it only from your personal PC that we know that no one else can use. If you use another computer, always make sure to log out of the website. Obviously, keep an eye on and never prevent the appearance of the persistent notification that appears every time you use Whatsapp web with your account.
READ ALSO: Spying on another's Whatsapp messages with Whatscan on Android and iPhone
9) Restrict access to the profile image
The main contribution to the growth of WhatApp has always been the fact that you can send a message to anyone with a phone number. The negative aspect of this feature is that the profile picture becomes visible to anyone and could even become a facilitation, for someone we don't know, in attempts to clone or disguise ourselves with our profile. Better therefore, in the settings> account> privacy, avoid that the profile image is visible to everyone.10) Hide the photos received and sent on the Whatsapp chat from the Gallery
The Gallery app on the phone also displays the images received in Whatsapp which, often and willingly, can be "inappropriate".Luckily, videos and photos sent and received in WhatsApp can be easily hidden from the gallery with a trick as explained in the guide on how to hide Whatsapp photos and videos from the Gallery.
11) Do not fall for scams and fake news that run on Whatsapp
Being so popular, Whatsapp has become an easy dissemination channel for scams and false alarms. You can therefore receive messages with special offers and links that only lead to installing malware on your phone.12) Archive chats to hide
A light and practical system to prevent those who pick up the phone from reading the most private conversations is to store chats on Whatsapp.Select a conversation and press the button at the top of the archive to make it disappear from the main list and make it go to the archived chats. To find the archived and hidden conversations, you have to scroll down the list of chats until it ends.
13) Deactivate the Whatsapp account on a lost phone or stolen smartphone
To be sure that Whatsapp is disabled in a stolen or lost smartphone, you must necessarily go to disable the SIM inserted in that phone.14) Do not use Whatsapp on another phone
This advice is trivial, but it is good to say that Whatsapp should always be used only on your phone, not on others. So if we do not have our smartphone because it is forgotten or lost, it is never better to ask to access your Whatsapp from another's phone.15) Hide the last access to Whatsapp
Although this has little to do with the security of the Whatsapp account, the fact remains that hiding the last access to Whatsapp from the Privacy settings discourages any stalkers and prevents friends and acquaintances from controlling our online activities. It is good to know that WhatsApp does not allow to know the online activities of others if we do not allow them to see our last access, but in the end it matters little.READ ALSO: Privacy Whatsapp: hide check messages read and last access
