WhatsApp is a popular and easy-to-use messaging system. It has some security features, such as using encryption at the edges to keep messages private. However, hack-directed hacks on WhatsApp can disrupt the privacy of your messages and contacts.
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Remote Code Generation with GIF
In October 2019, security researcher Awakened revealed a threat to WhatsApp allowing hackers to control the app using a GIF image. Robbery works with the benefit of the way WhatsApp processes images when a user opens a gallery view to send a media file.
When this happens, the application transfers the GIF to show the preview of the file. GIF files are special because they have many frames encoded. This means that the code can be hidden inside the image.
If a criminal sends a malicious GIF to a user, it can jeopardize the entire user’s chat history. Criminals will be able to see what the user was texting and what they were saying. They can also view user files, photos, and videos posted via WhatsApp.
The vulnerability affected WhatsApp versions up to 2.19.230 on Android 8.1 and 9. Fortunately, Awakened exposed the danger with a commitment, and Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, fixed the issue. To keep yourself safe from this problem, you should update WhatsApp to version 2.19.244 or higher.
Pegasus Voice Call Attack
Another WhatsApp vulnerability detected in early 2019 was the Pegasus voice call hack.
This horrible attack allowed cybercriminals to access the device by placing a WhatsApp voice call on their target. Even if the target does not respond to a call, an attack may still work. And the target may not even be aware that malware is installed on their device.
This has worked in a way known as the overflowing bathtub. This is where the attack intentionally puts a lot of code in a small bar so that it “overflows” and writes the code in an inaccessible place. If cybercriminals use the code in an area that should be protected, they can take malicious action.
The attack involved an old spy known as Pegasus. This has allowed cybercriminals to collect data from phone calls, messages, photos, and videos. It even allows them to make cameras and microphones for the device to take recordings.
This risk applies to Android, iOS, Windows 10 Mobile, and Tizen devices. It was used by the Israeli company NSO Group accused of investigating Amnesty International employees and other human rights activists. Following the news of the robbery, WhatsApp was updated to protect it from attack.
Improved Social Attack
One way WhatsApp is at risk is with improved social attacks. These exploit the human brain’s ability to steal information or spread inaccurate information.
A security company called Check Point Research has launched an attack of this nature which they have named FakesApp. This allowed people to misuse the quote feature in a group discussion and change the text of someone else’s response. Hackers may plant fake credentials that seem to come from other legitimate users.
Researchers can do this by deleting communication codes on WhatsApp. This allowed them to view the data sent between the mobile version and the WhatsApp version of WhatsApp.
And from here, they can change the values in group discussions. Then they can imitate other people, sending messages that seem to come from them. They can also change the response text.
This can be used with troubling means to spread scams or false stories. Although the risks were revealed in 2018, it was unclear when researchers spoke at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas in 2019, according to ZNet.
Media File Jacking
Media File Jacking affects both WhatsApp and Telegram. This attack is exploited by the way applications detect media files such as photos or videos and record those files on the device’s external storage.
The attack starts with the installation of a malicious computer program hidden inside a harmless application. This can then monitor incoming Telegram or WhatsApp files. When a new file enters, a malicious program may convert the original file into a fake one. Symantec, the company that received the report, suggests that it may be used to defraud people or to spread false information.
There is a quick fix to this issue. In WhatsApp, you should look in Settings and go to Chat Settings. Then find the Save to Gallery option and make sure it is set to Off. This will protect you from this danger. However, a real solution to the problem will require app developers to completely change the way apps handle media files in the future.
Facebook Can Spy WhatsApp Conversations
In a blog post, WhatsApp states that because it uses the last encryption, Facebook can’t read WhatsApp content:
“If you and the people you text are using the latest version of WhatsApp, your messages are automatically written, which means you are the only one who can read them. As we add more with Facebook in the coming months, your encrypted is encrypted. Not WhatsApp, not Facebook, or anyone else. ”
However, according to engineer Gregorio Zanon, this is not entirely true. The fact that WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption does not mean that all messages are private. On operating systems such as iOS 8 and above, applications can access files in the “shared container.”
Both Facebook and WhatsApp apps use the same shared container on devices. And while conversations are encrypted when sent, they are not encrypted on the original device. This means that the Facebook application can copy information to the WhatsApp app.
To be clear, there is no evidence that Facebook has used shared containers to view WhatsApp private messages. But there is the power to do so. Even if you write secretly at the end, your messages may not be secret to the all-seeing Facebook eyes.
WhatsApp Web
WhatsApp Web is a clean tool for someone who spends most of the day on the computer. It provides easy access to such WhatsApp users, as they will not have to pick up their phones repeatedly to send messages. The large screen and keyboard provide the best in-depth user experience.
Here’s the caveat, though. As handy as the web version, it can be easily used to hack into your WhatsApp chats. This danger arises when you use WhatsApp Web on someone else’s computer.
Therefore, if the computer owner chooses to keep me logged in during login, your WhatsApp account will remain logged in even after you have closed your browser.
The computer owner can access your information without much difficulty.
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