WhatsApp is giving its users a new way to lock down their accounts against advanced hackers and spies. On Tuesday, the messaging giant released a feature called “Strict Account Settings.” It is a simple, one-click option in the settings menu that activates a series of powerful defenses for people who might be targets of high-level surveillance.
Once a user turns this mode on, the app becomes much more restrictive. It immediately blocks any photos, videos, or documents sent by people who aren’t in the user’s contact list. It also kills “link previews”—those small thumbnails that appear when someone sends a web address—and silences all calls from unknown numbers.
Security experts have long warned that advanced hackers use these three things as “doors” to sneak spyware onto a device. A simple photo or a link preview can sometimes carry hidden code that infects a phone without the user even clicking anything. By shutting these features off, WhatsApp makes it much harder for someone to break in.
While WhatsApp already uses end-to-end encryption to keep messages private, the company admits that some people need even more protection. “We know that a few of our users—like journalists or public figures—may need extreme safeguards against rare and advanced cyberattacks,” the company said.
Meta is now the third major tech giant to offer this kind of “extreme” security. Apple led the way in 2022 with its “Lockdown Mode” for iPhones, and Google followed suit by adding an “Advanced Protection Mode” to Android last year. These tools all work on the same principle: they trade away convenience and some fun features to make the device as safe as possible.
John Scott-Railton, a researcher at The Citizen Lab who helps protect activists from government hacking, called the move a “very welcome development.” He noted that this feature will be a huge help for dissidents and people fighting for human rights around the world. It also sends a clear message to the rest of the tech industry that high-level security is no longer just an extra—it’s a necessity.
