It is well known how important it is to know the origin of the links we receive. These are often used by cybercriminals to access our devices and data. If you want to protect yourself as much as possible, disable this option in WhatsApp.
Improve security by disabling previews
Through the Meta instant messaging app we receive all types of files, photos and even links to web pages. By default, the app shows us a preview of the content. To do this, the application had to previously access at the same time, thereby revealing our IP. This happens, for example, when we send or receive a link to a news item from the messaging app. By default, we can see the content without having to access it. You may know what it is about, but these links are not always legal and can hide many dangers. To avoid them and make the use of the application much safer, we have the option of accessing the application settings and disable this setting.
- To do this, from the main screen of WhatsApp access the settings and follow the following steps.
- By clicking on the three dots icon in the upper right corner we access the menu
- Where we must select the option of “privacy”
- In this section we find several options, among which is “Advanced”
- To deactivate this option we must click on the button that we find next to the option ““Disable link previews.”
- By doing so, we prevent the third party websites may access our IP address.
We must remember that this is the one identifies our devices on any network, whether internal or external, as is the case with the Internet. With this information, not only can the device be identified, but also where we are and where we have connected from. As well as information about which sites we have visited or with which devices we have connected.
These provide a lot of valuable information, so we must guard it jealously. If someone gets our IP address, they can track all our online movements, personalize the content we access and even impersonate us on the Internet. As well as infect our devices with malware or even disable our networks with DDoS attacks.
That is why we must take a series of precautions like the adjustment we have just made to protect it from this type of threats. It is also important change our address by turning off the router, since most of the time the IP we use is dynamic. Another option is to use VPN applications, with which we can hide our real IP address. It is becoming one of the safest forms of communication between devices.
Thanks to this, we achieve anonymity on the network since our IP changes constantly, thus increasing security. In addition, it is not a bad idea to use strong passwords and update them from time to time, which will give us greater security, especially if we suspect that our data has been leaked.
