From sending fishing links to sim-swap attack, there are many ways from which someone’s account can be in danger. If the security settings are not activated at the right time, then your personal information can go into the wrong hands. The good thing is that there are many such tools inside WhatsApp, which can be made safe to a large extent by activating in a few minutes.

First of all, it is important that two-step verification should be started. This feature erects a kind of extra wall on your account, in which one has to put OTP as well as a six-digit pin to log in to the new device. It makes it very difficult for hackers to break the security. Apart from this, using biometric lock i.e. fingerprint or face ID is also very useful. Suppose your phone suddenly comes in someone’s hand, even then it will not be able to reach your chats without your identity.

Another effective feature in terms of privacy is dysfirming messages. On turning on this option, chats automatically disappear after the scheduled time – 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days. This does not save sensitive information on the phone or cloud for a long time and reduces the risk.

Similarly, it is also important to pay attention to backup. It is often understood that WhatsApp chats are safe because they are end-to-end encrypted but when the same backup is saved in the cloud, there is a danger. If you turn on the encryption on backups and set a strong password, no one else can reach your old conversation.

Finally, ignoring the profile privacy controls may prove to be a mistake. This feature allows you to decide who can see information like your profile photo, last online situation, ‘About’ and status. It is always better to hide their information from unknown people because even small details can be used for wrong purpose.

Cyber criminals continue to draw new tricks, but with these five simple changes, you can make your WhatsApp account more stronger. It is important for every Indian user to immediately activate these settings because this is the easiest way to save digital security and privacy.