Whatsapp: “Your security number has changed” – what it means

Undoubtedly, you open a chat on Whatsapp and suddenly get a message with the content “Your security number has changed”. Has your chat partner been hacked? Not necessarily, because there may be other reasons behind the statement.

What is the security number?

Each WhatsApp chat is end-to-end encrypted, for this reason a unique security number is provided. This way, you can verify that the end-to-end encryption is actually given (the actual key is confidential and has nothing to do with the number).

The security number is stored as a 60-digit number in the contact information of the QR code or the respective chat and may be changed under certain conditions or circumstances. This will happen, for example, when …

What is the meaning of Whatsapp message?

Given one of the three cases, you do not have to worry about this Whatsapp message. Whatsapp only wants to let you know that the security number for the respective chat has been changed, but that end-to-end encryption is still in effect.

But be careful:

If none of the above applies and your chat interaction behaves differently (by sending weird links for example), you need to be careful. Because in this case his account may have been hacked and contacted from another device. Our tip: Protect yourself by calling your contact.

More WhatsApp tips can be found here: