In order to protect specific users from sophisticated cyberattacks based on their identity and activities, Meta announced on Tuesday that it is implementing Strict Account Settings on WhatsApp. By sacrificing some functionality for increased security, the feature—which is comparable to Lockdown Mode in Apple iOS and Advanced Protection in Android—aims to shield people, like journalists or public figures, from sophisticated spyware. When this security mode is activated, attachments and media from users who are not in their contacts will be blocked, and some account settings will be locked to the most restrictive settings.

"With just a few taps, this lockdown-style feature strengthens your security on WhatsApp even further by locking your account to the most restrictive settings, such as automatically blocking attachments and media from unknown senders, silencing calls from people you don't know, and restricting other settings that may limit how the app works," Meta stated. Go to Settings > Privacy > Advanced to activate the feature. According to Meta, the feature will be released gradually over the next few weeks.

In order to protect users' images, videos, and messages from spyware attacks, the social media behemoth announced that it is implementing the Rust programming language in its media sharing feature.

The creation was referred to as the "largest rollout globally of any library written in Rust." The company added that it is investing in a three-pronged strategy to address memory safety issues: Design the product to minimize needless attack surface exposure; and use Rust to create a secure, high-performance, cross-platform library ("wamedia") for media sharing in WhatsApp across devices. Invest in security assurance for the remaining C and C++ code.

By default, new code is written in memory-safe languages. According to the company, "WhatsApp has added protections like CFI, hardened memory allocators, safer buffer handling APIs, and more." "As part of our ongoing defense-in-depth approach, this is a significant step forward in adding additional security for users behind the scenes."