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Don’t get hacked; protect your WhatsApp account

08 October 2020 Photo Istock

Whatsapp security — It is important to be safe when using WhatsApp. Do not leave your phone unattended when you are not close by.

There are 2 billion WhatsApp users in the world, and 1,6 billion WhatsApp users access their accounts on a daily basis.

However, it is important to also be safe when using this popular communication tool.

According to Cobus van Jaarsveld, Assistant Director: Threat Detection, Investigations and Liaison in Protection Services, it does happen that people’s WhatsApp accounts get hacked; this is a serious violation of privacy.

“It means a third party now has unlimited access to your personal chats, information, media – and in some instances, they can also masquerade as you by deleting your chats, replying to your chats, and committing crimes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of how harmful it can be to get hacked,” says Van Jaarsveld.

He adds: “Hackers can access your WhatsApp data by various means, e.g. via WhatsApp web or registering your number on another device.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) provided the following tips to prevent one’s WhatsApp from getting hacked:

• Log out from all computers that you see in the list under WhatsApp Web. This will stop hackers from further reading your chats. However, this should be done every time you use WhatsApp web.
• Do not leave your phone unattended when you are out.
• Lock all your apps to prevent unknown people from accessing your apps.
• Do not connect your phone to unknown Wi-Fi connections, as hackers can also use the unique MAC address to access all your WhatsApp chats.
• In case your WhatsApp has already been hacked, deactivate your account by emailing support@whatsapp.com. Your account will be automatically deleted if not accessed for 30 days.
• Enable two-step verification under your WhatsApp account settings. This will add an extra layer of security to the app.
• Lock WhatsApp. It is imperative to have the AppLocker that will help you lock your WhatsApp. While WhatsApp does not offer this application per se, you can download it and the app will facilitate the use of your WhatsApp with a password or PIN. This will help to prevent anyone who has access to your phone from accessing your WhatsApp account, since they will require a password to open it.

News Archive

Brian Campbell one of selected few in Microsoft programme

2012-09-14

Brian Campbell
14 September 2012

A UFS student in Computer Science and Informatics, Brian Campbell of the Department of Computer Science and Informatics, has joined an elite group of South Africans, was invited to join the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) programme in April 2012. Approximately 500 computer science and information technology students are chosen worldwide each year to form part of this elite student development programme. This year, 16 South African students were invited to join the MSP program.

These students will be Microsoft’s first non-industry partners to be trained in its newest and most revolutionary technologies that will be launched within the coming months. As part of their commitment to Microsoft, most of the students will train the lecturers and students of their respective universities, as well as Microsoft’s national industry partners and lecturers of universities and universities of technology that do not have MSPs on their campuses.

In May this year, Brian assisted employees from Microsoft to present a Windows 8 seminar at its offices in Cape Town.

Additional Microsoft related events have been arranged by Brian. These include a Windows Phone development day and an upcoming Windows 8 development seminar. Five students in the Department of Computer Science and Informatics were rewarded with Nokia Lumia cell phones after they published at least five applications on the Windows Phone Marketplace.

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