Popular chat application WhatsApp is joining the two-factor authentication club as well as the security feature is now available on the beta version of WhatsApp.
First noted by Android Police, those who are running the WhatsApp Beta application will be able to activate two-factor authentication by accesssing the settings menu. When activate, WhatsApp will require the user to create a six-digit long password. This password will be used every time the user tries to login to service on a new device. Additionally, the user will also need to add an e-mail address, allowing the user to reset the password in the event that they’ve forgotten it. Once that’s done, the phone number associated with the WhatsApp account will be protector.
Many of you may notice that WhatsApp’s method of implementing two-factor authentication is rather different when compared to other services. This can be attributed to the fact that WhatsApp accounts are tied to a phone number instead of the traditional e-mail address. As such, sending a authetication code to the phone number defeats the point of two-factor authentication.
Source: Android Police