WhatsAppに新しいアカウントセキュリティ機能が追加New Account Security Features for WhatsApp

Meta has announced a set of new account security features for WhatsApp, including stronger two-step verification and additional context for calls placed by unknown callers. The changes matter because WhatsApp is one of the world's most widely used messaging platforms, with a user base spanning billions of people, and its accounts are a frequent target for account-takeover attempts and scam campaigns. Strengthening the defenses around sign-in and unfamiliar contact attempts addresses two of the most common ways that ordinary users are exposed to fraud.

At the center of the update is an enhancement to two-step verification, the optional feature that adds a layer of protection beyond a standard SMS registration code. Two-step verification on WhatsApp traditionally works by letting users set a personal identification number, or PIN, that must be entered when the account is registered on a new device. This helps guard against attackers who manage to intercept or socially engineer a one-time code, a technique often used in so-called SIM-swap attacks. By making this verification stronger, Meta appears to be raising the barrier for anyone attempting to move an account to a device they do not own, though the company frames the improvement as part of a broader effort rather than a single mechanism.

The second feature focuses on calls from unknown numbers. According to Meta, WhatsApp will now surface additional context when a call arrives from someone not saved in a user's contacts. Displaying more information about an unfamiliar caller is intended to help people make a more informed decision about whether to answer, mute, or block the call. This is relevant because voice and video calls have increasingly been used as an entry point for scams, where fraudsters attempt to build trust or create urgency before requesting money or sensitive information. Giving recipients context up front is a relatively lightweight but potentially meaningful way to reduce the effectiveness of such approaches.

These additions fit within a wider pattern across Meta's messaging services, which have gradually layered on protective controls over the past several years. WhatsApp already offers tools such as the ability to silence calls from unknown numbers, block and report contacts, and passkey support that lets users log in with biometric or device-based credentials instead of a password. The platform's messages and calls are protected by end-to-end encryption by default, meaning the content is not readable by WhatsApp itself. Account-level protections like two-step verification are complementary to that encryption, since they guard the account and device registration process rather than the confidentiality of the conversations.

The move also reflects broader industry trends around authentication and fraud prevention. Across the technology sector, providers have been steadily shifting users away from reliance on SMS-only codes, which are vulnerable to interception, and toward stronger factors such as app-based verification, hardware security keys, and passkeys built on the FIDO standards. Regulators and consumer-protection bodies in several regions have also increased pressure on platforms to do more to curb messaging-based fraud, which has grown alongside the popularity of chat apps for both personal and commercial communication. Seen in that light, WhatsApp's changes are consistent with the direction competitors and peers have taken.

For everyday users, the practical takeaway is that enabling two-step verification remains one of the simplest and most effective steps to protect an account, and the strengthened version is likely to make that protection more robust. The added caller context, meanwhile, is designed to help users exercise caution without needing to block communication outright. As with many staged feature releases, availability may roll out gradually across regions, platforms, and app versions, so not every user is likely to see the new options at the same time.

Meta published details of the changes through its Meta Newsroom blog. The company has not framed the update as a wholesale redesign of WhatsApp security, but rather as an incremental reinforcement of existing safeguards. Users who want to take advantage of the features can typically review their security options within the app's settings, and are generally encouraged to keep the application updated to receive the latest protections as they become available in their market.