Often when we download an appwe accept the default settings, including those that determine privacy, location, and others. On WhatsAppone of the options that is determined by default and that often, due to laziness or ignorance, we do not change, is the one that can open the doors to cyber attacks in a very simple way.
Surely, on WhatsApp, when you are sent images or audio files, they are automatically downloaded. This is an option that is activated by default and is the same one that makes our phones fill up with images, memes, audios and so on, saturating the device’s memory. The issue with audios cannot be resolved, since, if they are voice messages, are downloaded automatically.
However, you can change the settings for files and images, something that is done by default. is part of automatic file downloads. Disabling this option prevents images from accumulating, especially those that circulate in groups and have been forwarded many times, with the consequences that this has for the capacity of the device.
But this feature has the advantage of providing another benefit: by preventing automatic downloading, prevents hackers from sending files and downloading them without our knowledge or authorizationAlthough WhatsApp already has protection mechanisms against unknown numbers, once hackers have taken control of a mobile phone, they can send malicious files to contacts and, since they come from a known number, they will be downloaded automatically.
To avoid this, both for memory and security reasons, you have to go to WhatsApp Settings, Storage and Data and change the automatic download, which can be done on both iOS and Androidalthough only from the mobile phone, not from the computer app.