The latest beta version of WhatsApp prepares a function that will protect its users. It is a suspicious link detector that will warn you when you try to open a link that may contain spam.
WhatsApp will detect suspicious links
Through the beta system of the Play Store beta version 2.18.206 of WhatsApp. It is not yet available to everyone and the company will still have to work on improving this new function, but it is now official that WhatsApp will detect suspicious links using a new system. This will protect the millions of people who use the application. You can see a sample of how it works in the following screenshot:
As you can see, the system will not beat around the bush when it comes to indicating that a link does not look good. Directly on the preview of the link it will place a red banner with an alert symbol and a text that says Suspicious link. If you still decide to try to open the link, WhatsApp will report something wrong again, with a new pop-up window detailing what exactly is wrong:
As you can see, in this case the application detects that there is a character trying to impersonate another. Specifically, a lowercase i is imitated with another symbol. In addition, a link is offered to learn more about this system and two other buttons: one to open the link and one to go back. It should be noted that all this analysis occurs locally and no data is sent to servers.
In addition, at the moment the tool seems to be very incomplete. One wonders if it only detects unusual characters or if it will be able to go further in the future when it comes to detecting spam. Surely for the latter you should resort to an internet connection, although there is a benefit that the system works locally- Even offline, suspicious links can be detected.
With all this, WhatsApp aims to protect many more to its users. It is common to see how some people share message chains with spam and suspicious links that seek to deceive people. This is a system that has plagued the application for a long time, and looking for a method to combat it is good news for everyone. It just needs to be implemented globally within many versions and that it be even better.
