WhatsApp rolls out new protections against advanced exploits and spyware

WhatsApp is rolling out “Strict Account Settings,” rebuilding its core media-handling library in Rust and introducing an internal inspection system named Kaleidoscope to detect malformed or risky files (e.g., renamed executables, PDFs with embedded content). These changes aim to mitigate exploitation vectors from malicious media—highlighted by past issues like Stagefright—and add stricter defaults (blocking attachments from unknown senders) to reduce risk, but the article is informational rather than an incident report.