Can you spy on Whatsapp? How to protect chats and messages from hackers and spy apps

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 a stir. As the Hackernews site writes, Whatsapp recently patched a serious vulnerability that was exploited by attackers to remotely install a spy malware (called Pegasus) on some “selected” smartphones (in the sense that they were specific targets, not by chance) by simply calling the their phone numbers via the audio call function of Whatsapp itself. This Whatsapp vulnerability has therefore now been resolved in the latest version of the application and it is recommended that all users install the update.

With Whatsapp being so important and so popular, it is important to know how to implement protect your smartphone from spy software, 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 how 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 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, you need to install a malware or one of the simple and innocent on the target phone spy app which are easily found by searching on Google. For example we can name commercial apps for controlling other phones (not free) that work without the need to obtain root permissions on Android and without Jailbreak on iPhone such as:
Their peculiarity is that after installation they hide on the system without being noticed and are able to send data remotely to the person who installed it. Another trivial example is that of a well-known anti-theft application like Cerberus, free for a week, which allows you to control the victim’s mobile phone remotely without problems.
There are also more advanced techniques that allow you to spy on a phone and even Whatsapp without installing anything on the target smartphone, but only a few particularly capable people may be able to implement them effectively (for example by cloning the Mac Address of the phone to be spied on. can access his Whatsapp account from his 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 adopt, all or almost according to the needs.

1) Update the app

To protect chats and messages on Whatsapp, you don’t need to do anything special, 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

Anyone using Whatsapp from other unofficial apps should stop doing it. As already reported a few years ago, Do not use Whatsapp Plus or Gold or any other unofficial app, as it may not be secure and easily steal user data.
For the same reasons, never log into other applications using your Whatsapp account.

3) Use Whatsapp’s two-factor verification

This is certainly the most effective way to secure Whatsapp and thwart almost any attempt to hack or clone even the SIM. This method ensures that no one else can set up our WhatsApp on their mobile phone without knowing the 6-digit secret code which 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 your phone

Then you have to keep your phone protected, lock the screen to prevent anyone from using it without permission e keep the software (Android and iOS) updated with the latest version.
For added security, you can also use one of those apps to block applications from opening on Android, adding another degree of protection to important apps like Whatsapp or 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 (even if it will be completely useless in the case of malware that exploit Whatsapp bags as happened with the Pegasus spyware I mentioned above. at the beginning of the article).

6) Protect the SMS app

Without particular hacker techniques, it is possible to register Whatsapp on another smartphone simply by reading the confirmation code that you receive via SMS on first access. 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 his identity by entering a code that arrives via SMS to the indicated number. If this person can read our SMS, they can then confirm access to our Whatsapp account on their 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 are using an Android smartphone and on iCloud if you are using an iPhone. It goes without saying that if anyone can access our Google Drive or iCloud account can have access to the backup of past chats on Whatsapp and, therefore, extract all the data he wants (although he will still need to work on it since the Whatsapp backups are encrypted).

8) Pay attention to how to use Whatspap from a website

Using Whatsapp via a website is very convenient to be able to chat on Whatsapp from your PC, but it is also the worst vulnerability of this application. The trick to spy on another person’s Whatsapp from the website is to take a moment of his unlocked mobile phone (for example of 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 controlled. Until this person realizes that he has an open Whatsapp web session (now a notification appears on the phone every time Whatsapp web is active) or until this person opens Whatsapp web himself from his PC, it becomes possible to spy every future conversation and chat without getting caught.
Whatsapp web can also be a problem if you use another PC that is not ours or that we do not use only us by going away without disconnecting. To protect yourself from these risks, never lose sight of your phone, make sure you have a screen lock and if you are using Whatsapp Web, only do it from your personal PC that we know no one else can use. If you are using another computer, always make sure you 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: Spy on another’s Whatsapp messages with Whatscan on Android and iPhone

9) Restrict access to the profile picture

The main contribution to the growth of WhatApp has always been the fact that you can send a message to anyone with the phone number. The downside to this feature is that the profile picture becomes visible to anyone and could even become a facilitation, for someone we don’t know, in their attempts to clone or disguise themselves with our profile. Better then, in the settings> account> privacy, prevent your profile picture from being visible to everyone.

10) Hide the photos received and sent on the Whatsapp chat from the Gallery

The Gallery app on your phone also displays images received in Whatsapp which, more often than not, can be “inappropriate”.
Fortunately, 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

By being so popular, Whatsapp has become an easy channel for scams and false alarms. You can then receive messages with special offers and links that only lead to malware being installed on your phone.

12) Archive chats to hide

A light and practical way to avoid those who take the phone from reading the most private conversations is to archive chats on Whatsapp.
Select a conversation and press the top button 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 deactivated in a stolen or lost smartphone, you must necessarily go and deactivate the SIM inserted in that phone.

14) Don’t use Whatsapp on another phone

This advice is trivial, but it is still good to say that Whatsapp should always and only be used on your phone, not on others. Therefore, if we do not have our smartphone because it is forgotten or lost, it is never convenient 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 us to know the online activities of others if we do not allow them to see our last login, but in the end it matters little.

READ ALSO: Whatsapp privacy: hide ticked messages read and last accessed