WhatsApp

WhatsApp Users Alert! THESE 10 upcoming features are coming soon

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WhatsApp, a Meta-owned messaging app, is apparently working on additional features for Android, iOS, and PC users. These features will enhance the quality of the chat experience and provide users with a more participatory platform. Some of these capabilities are already being rolled out to WhatsApp beta program subscribers.© Provided by Zee News

WABetaInfo, a WhatsApp feature tracker, discovered these forthcoming additions.

Check out the 10 upcoming WhatsApp features: 

WhatsApp Communities feature

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is planning to launch a new Communities feature for Group administrators. The feature is expected to provide Group administrators with more control. Admins can use this capability to create Groups within Groups. The Sub-Groups will also be encrypted end-to-end. It will be quite similar to how numerous channels are organised within a Discord group.

New chat feature for group admins

WhatsApp is developing a new chat function for group administrators that will allow them to remove messages submitted by other group members. The aforementioned feature will be included in a future release. With this future functionality, WhatsApp group managers will be able to erase anyone’s incorrect message without their permission. Admins will have better control over group chats thanks to this feature. When an admin deletes a message in a group chat, users will see a notification that states ‘This was deleted by an admin.’

2-step verification for WhatsApp web/desktop

WhatsApp is apparently going to implement two-step authentication for desktop and online users in order to increase account security. The two-step verification function is an optional feature that protects users’ WhatsApp accounts against illegal access. When a user logs into their WhatsApp account, they must enter a two-step verification PIN. For the time being, it is only available on the WhatsApp mobile app.

Message reactions like Instagram and Facebook Messenger

WhatsApp users will soon be able to receive message reactions similar to those found on Instagram and Facebook Messenger. Users can respond to messages using this functionality. To use the message reaction, users must first tap and hold the message to which they wish to respond, then drag their finger to the suitable emoji. This feature allows users to view who responded to incoming and outgoing messages in a group.

New animated emojis

According to reports, WhatsApp is working on new animation emojis for Android and Apple iOS users. For the time being, the app just offers a single animated red heart emoji to its users. When a red heart emoji is sent to a user, it looks to be beating. According to a new report by WABetaInfo, the instant-messaging network is trying to bring the dynamic effect to more emojis.

Search shortcut in contact information section

According to reports, the Meta-owned app is working on a new search feature for the contact information tab. The new search shortcut will be added next to the video call icon and will also be visible in the group information area. WABetaInfo, a WhatsApp feature tracker, discovered the new search message shortcut. Users will be able to conduct searches directly from the info page of personal contacts and group conversations using this new search message shortcut.

New interface for voice calls

WhatsApp will soon launch a new interface for group phone calls. During a group call, the platform is adding voice waveforms for all participants. The voice waves resemble those observed in voice notes. According to reports, the new interface will have a rounded grey rectangular background with the contact’s name, phone, and profile picture on top, as well as the call duration.

Restrict people who can see your WhatsApp status

WhatsApp will roll out a new security feature that will allow users to control who can view their status updates. You can manage status privacy settings with this new WhatsApp shortcut. The new shortcut will allow users to specify which users will be allowed to read their status changes. According to WABetaInfo, the new shortcut will be visible at the bottom of the screen when you tap on ‘Status.’

Preview photos and videos shared as documents

WhatsApp intends to add a new preview option for documents shared in chats. Users will be able to preview videos and photographs shared as documents in chats using the new feature. Currently, you cannot see an image or video given as a document without first opening it.

Share same photo/video in chat and status at the same time

Whatsapp is developing a new feature that will allow users to share media as their WhatApp status, as well as with individual chats or Groups in a single window. Currently, if a WhatsApp user wishes to share a single media file as a status update with many chats, they must do it individually. Users will be able to share media in chat and status at the same time with the feature.

WhatsApp to give users’ phone numbers to Facebook for targeted ads.

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Messaging service will begin sharing private information with Facebook and is preparing to allow businesses to message users

 Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram app on Android

All messages sent using an up-to-date version of WhatsApp are sent encrypted end-to-end from the sender to the recipient preventing WhatsApp or anyone else from reading its contents. As a by-product, it also blocks the company targeting ads against what is said in messages, a common tool used by Facebook, Google and others.

What’s unclear is whether WhatsApp will allow companies to send users marketing messages. The company insists that it will not allow spam and is simply testing systems that replicate the current communications sent to users from banks, airlines and other services that use SMS to notify customers of events such as fraud alerts or travel delays.

However, the company’s updated privacy policy states that “messages you may receive containing marketing could include an offer for something that might interest you”.

Users can block messages being sent to them from numbers or accounts entirely, which should mean they can also block any messages sent from companies, should the function remain unchanged.

The company still insists that it does not sell ads when activating the service, linking to a blog post from 18 June 2012 titled “why we don’t sell ads” that emphatically states that “remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product”. The post was made before the sale of billion-user messaging service to Facebook, although the company insists that the values still stand.

Multi-pillar approach

Facebook has been making moves to increase its share of user time on mobile devices by pushing services such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp that operate in addition to its core social network and Facebook app. In doing so it has added further users, beyond those signed up and using Facebook, to its user base.

But it has yet to fully leverage that non-Facebook userbase for its main revenue generating activity, advertising. Instagram has advertising, but neither WhatsApp nor Facebook Messenger currently does.

Messenger has been used as a test bed by Facebook for interactions with chatbots, brands and businesses, allowing users to book tickets to shows, ask for news and have services delivered to them in text or multimedia form along with their friends’ messages.

Although the crossover between WhatsApp and Facebook’s other services is undoubtedly high in developed nations, WhatsApp’s strength has been in reaching those who would not use or cannot use Facebook in developing nations and areas of poor connectivity.

How Facebook proceeds with revenue generation from the messaging service beyond the obvious customer service activities without spamming users remains to be seen. Many fear the introduction of marketing messages and other ads, despite the assurances of WhatsApp that there will be no spam.

WhatsApp FAQ – End-to-End Encryption

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End-to-End Encryption

Privacy and security is in our DNA, which is why we have end-to-end encryption in the latest versions of our app. When end-to-end encrypted, your messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, and calls are secured from falling into the wrong hands.

End-to-end encryption is available when you and the people you message are on the latest versions of WhatsApp.

WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption ensures only you and the person you’re communicating with can read what is sent, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp. Your messages are secured with a lock, and only the recipient and you have the special key needed to unlock and read your message. For added protection, every message you send has a unique lock and key. All of this happens automatically: no need to turn on settings or set up special secret chats to secure your messages.

Important: End-to-end encryption is always activated, provided all parties are using the latest version of WhatsApp. There is no way to turn off end-to-end encryption.

What is the “Verify security code” screen in my contact info/group info?

Each of your chats has its own security code used to verify that your calls and the messages you send to that chat are end-to-end encrypted.

Note: The verification process is optional and is used only to confirm that the messages you send are end-to-end encrypted.

This code can be found in the contact info/group info screen, both as a QR code and a 60-digit number. These codes are unique to each chat and can be compared between people in each chat to verify that the messages you send to the chat are end-to-end encrypted. Security codes are just visible versions of the special key shared between you – and don’t worry, it’s not the actual key itself, that’s always kept secret.

To verify that a chat is end-to-end encrypted

  1. Open the chat.
  2. Tap on the name of the contact or group to open the contact info/group info screen.
  3. Tap Encryption to view the QR code and 60-digit number.

If you and your contact are physically next to each other, one of you can scan the other’s QR code or visually compare the 60-digit number. If you scan the QR code, and the code is indeed the same, a green checkmark will appear. Since they match, you can be sure no one is intercepting your messages or calls.

If the codes do not match, it’s likely you’re scanning the code of a different contact, or a different phone number. If your contact has recently reinstalled WhatsApp, or switched devices, we recommend you refresh the code by sending them a new message and then scanning the code.

Learn more about security codes changing in this FAQ article.

If you and your contact are not physically near each other, you can send them the 60-digit number. Let your contact know that once they receive your code, they should write it down and then visually compare it to the 60-digit number that appears in the contact info screen under Encryption. For Android, iPhone and Windows Phone, you can use the Share button from the QR code/60-digit number screen to send the 60-digit number via SMS, email, etc.

I’m seeing that the messages I send aren’t encrypted

It’s possible that you tap on Encryption in the contact info/group info screen and receive a message that the messages you send are not end-to-end encrypted. If this is the case, it’s likely that you or the person you’re chatting with needs to update to the latest version of WhatsApp. Once all parties in a group, or the person you’re messaging in an individual chat, have updated to the latest version of WhatsApp, a small indicator will appear in the chat informing you that the messages in your chat are end-to-end encrypted.

Forget Encryption, WhatsApp Is Vulnerable To Phishing Attacks

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Recently there has been a lot of noise about how WhatsApp has done end-to-end encryption and even WhatsApp cannot decrypt it for the Federal Agencies! This has been done in the interest of privacy and security of 1 billion people for whom WhatsApp is the sole choice for to send text messages and phone calls to other users.

However its not the Federal Agencies that WhatsApp should be protecting its users from. It’s the Phishing attacks, scams, identity thefts on naïve users that needs WhatsApp’s urgent attention.

Sometime back WhatsApp introduced WhatsApp Web for its users where they have to scan a QR code from their WhatsApp on mobile and then they can start using WhatsApp from their desktop or laptop in the same way they do it on their mobile phones.

WhatsApp Web is the gateway for unscrupulous individuals and companies to phish personal data, financial details, confidential information, pictures, videos, and chats from WhatsApp accounts of people.

They do it easily, just by:

1.Scrapping the QR code from the WhatsApp Web

2.Posting that scrapped QR Code onto their phishing site / page

3.Asking visitors on their phishing page to scan it from WhatsApp on their phone, in return offering some prize, cash or anything that can lure a user

4.Once the user is done with scanning, these phishing individuals or companies get complete access to the user’s WhatsApp

Most of the 1 billion WhatsApp users are not technically savvy to realize that a parallel connection to their WhatsApp account gets created the moment they scan a QR Code on a non-whatsApp site from their WhatsApp application. Try explaining that to your mother !

How WhatsApp Web Works:

1.User log onto web.whatsapp.com from their desktop

2.Scan the QR code on the page from WhatsApp on mobile

3.Get connected to WhatsApp via desktop / laptop

What Phishing Individuals and Companies are doing:

1.User is taken on a fraudulent website

2.The website requires user to scan a QR code from WhatsApp

3.Once scanned, the fraudulent website gets access to user’s WhatsApp account

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While the example above is only illustrative but its happening around us already. I came across a company named 1Group / ii5.com, in India who is using this vulnerability as a feature for their product. They get naïve customers to scan a QR Code and get access to whatsApp groups of the customers. I recorded a video of how it works and it is actually scary.

 

What all can get stolen:

1.Anything & everything that you have shared via WhatsApp, like bank details, passwords, private pics, personal messages, etc.

2.Your entire contacts list

3.Your complete chat data

4.Your personal information

All this data can now be accessed by these phishing individuals and companies. Imagine what all they can do with this data?

Moreover, they can send messages to any contact on your phone posing as you. For example:

1.Inappropriate messages to your professional contacts

2.Indecent messages to your family

How dangerous it can become if any individual or company can get access to a large number of WhatsApp users? Personal and confidential information of a billion users is at stake and it can really cause a phishing bomb to explode with unimagined repercussions. Think about anti-national elements get into this phishing scam and what they can do with this – its not encryption but phishing protection that customers really need.

WhatsApp introduces encryption to keep your messages safe from spies, spooks and hackers

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Communications app will scramble data so it is unreadable unless a secret key or password is entered

Instant messaging service WhatsApp has announced it has completed a move to fully encrypt all the content within its app, enhancing user privacy in the process.

WhatsApp

The announcement follows Apple’s high-profile battle with the FBI over encrypted content on a terror suspect’s iPhone, and the technology giant’s refusal to co-operatein unlocking the device, citing user privacy and security.

Until the announcement, only text-based messages sent in one-to-one conversations were encrypted in WhatsApp. However, all content within WhatsApp, including voice calls, videos and group conversations across both iOS and Android are now covered by what is known as “end-to-end encryption”.

Encryption involves scrambling data so it is unreadable unless a secret key or password is entered. In general smartphone terms this is the passwords and keycodes used to lock devices and log-in to various accounts.

WhatsApp

Both Apple and Google encrypt the data within their user’s smartphones by default in order to protect sensitive information from potential hackers, but governments have increased pressure on the firms in recent months to help make such data more accessible, claiming the current levels of protection are enabling terror cells to communicate without detection.

In the Apple case, the FBI used a third-party in order to gain access to the iPhone.

In a blog post announcing the full roll-out of encryption within the app, WhatsApp’s partners in the programme, Open Whisper, said: “As of today, the integration is fully complete. Users running the most recent versions of WhatsApp on any platform now get full end to end encryption for every message they send and every WhatsApp call they make when communicating with each other.