WhatsApp has been allowing the use of temporary messages in private conversations and groups for some time. When enabled, this app feature makes messages disappear seven days after sending.
But according to WABetaInfo , a site specializing in monitoring the development of new WhatsApp features, the app team is already internally testing a change that will allow the user to reduce the duration of temporary messages to 24 hours.
Another recent change, this one included in version 2.21.8.7 Beta for Android, is the ability for any member of a group or conversation to enable temporary messages. Currently, only administrators can do this.
The new option is under ‘Group settings’ and ‘Edit group data’. An administrator can define “who can change group topic, icon, description and temp messages”: administrators only (as currently) or “all participants” as shown below.
WhatsApp serious failure
Recently, a flaw in WhatsApp has surfaced that allows anyone who knows a user’s phone number to block the corresponding account.
In fact, the method is not a “bug” in the code, but rather a way to abuse the account configuration and blocking system defined by the company. The flaw was discovered by security experts Luis Márquez Carpintero and Ernesto Canales Pereña and reported by Forbes magazine .
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The method works like this: an evildoer downloads WhatsApp and enters the victim’s number to activate the app on another smartphone. Two-factor verification prevents it from being able to access the service. However, after several unsuccessful login attempts, the app is locked for 12 hours.
The attacker can then send a message to WhatsApp support from their own email address claiming that their smartphone has been stolen or lost and that they need to delete the account.
By providing the victim’s WhatsApp number as your own, the service is immediately blocked and a confirmation email is sent to the actual account owner. The process can be done several times and causes a partial freeze on the service. Conversations, however, are not exposed.
Source: WABetaInfo