WhatsApp Rolls Out Stricter Security Setting to Protect Users From Cyberattacks

WhatsApp has begun rolling out a new security option designed to give users stronger protection against cyberattacks, just days after Meta faced a lawsuit over alleged misleading claims about the app’s privacy safeguards.

The new feature, called Strict Account Settings, introduces a more restrictive layer of protection by limiting interactions with unknown contacts. When enabled, the setting automatically blocks media files and attachments sent by people who aren’t in a user’s contacts, silences calls from unknown numbers, and turns off link previews. It also turns on an option that blocks a high volume of messages from unknown senders.

Activating Strict Account Settings also enables two-step verification by default, along with security notifications that alert users if the security code of someone they’re chatting with changes.

Under this stricter mode, visibility of personal information is reduced. A user’s last seen online status, profile photo, “about” details, and profile links are restricted to contacts only. Group privacy is also tightened, so only contacts — or a selected subset of them — can add the user to group chats.

WhatsApp described the feature as a “lockdown-style” security option that will roll out globally over the coming weeks. The company said it is beneficial for journalists, public figures, and others who may be at higher risk of targeted attacks.

“Strict account settings are an optional, lockdown-style security feature that, when enabled, reduces your vulnerability to cyber attack by limiting functionality,” the company said in its description. “Your account is locked to more private settings, and your chats with others outside your contacts will have limitations.”

Users can enable the feature by navigating to Settings > Privacy > Advanced and switching on Strict Account Settings. Meta noted that the setting can only be changed on a user’s primary device, not on companion platforms such as WhatsApp Web or the Windows app.

The rollout comes amid heightened scrutiny of WhatsApp’s privacy practices. A recent lawsuit alleges that Meta has made false claims about the app’s security, accusing the company of storing, analysing, and potentially accessing users’ supposedly private communications.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart has pushed back against those allegations, calling the case a “no-merit, headline-seeking lawsuit” and rejecting claims that WhatsApp compromises user privacy.