Surprisingly, up to now, Whatsapp Messenger – which is probably one of the biggest messaging services in the world, hasn’t supported two-factor authentication. Well, that was until now. People that are using the latest beta version of Whatsapp are starting to see the option to turn on this extra security measure.
The option to turn on this new feature will be found in the settings menu; you are prompted to create a six-digit passcode, and this code will be needed every time you try and log in to the service on a new device. A backup recovery email address will be also be needed should you forget and need to reset your passcode. Once this is all set up, the phone number that’s associated with your Whatsapp account will be protected. This is unlike other messaging apps that are tied to an email address. That means the normal method used for authentication, the sending of a text message containing a randomly generated code, won’t work, hence the user having to create the 6 digit code.
At least this update does add a further level of security to the app, similar to Google’s Allo messaging app (which has had very poor uptake, to say the least). For those who aren’t on the beta, it’s never too long till new features hit the stable version.