How WhatsApp lost rhyme to competitors?
Although the WhatsApp messenger application, like many other similar software, cannot be hacked quickly by hackers and cybercriminals and has always been the most secure messenger in the world, it seems that hackers have found a new way to enter it. so that they can access the personal information and user accounts of their intended victims and abuse their data in order to achieve their goals and motives.
According to Aetna from Isna, according to a report on the firstpost website, quoted by Gulf News, experts and specialists active in the field of cyber security have received a report by publishing a report and announced that hackers have found a new way to gain control and access to privacy. WhatsApp users have found a private message and that is sending a confirmation code to the SIM card number of WhatsApp users so that they mistakenly think that this message was sent to them by WhatsApp and by clicking on the link included in it, they get permission to enter. and give hackers access to their WhatsApp account and phone information; The difference is that the message sent by WhatsApp to users only contains a 6-digit code, but the message sent and received by hackers contains an infected link that asks users to click on it.
According to these experts, considering that WhatsApp sends a message to the SIM card number in the phone to verify the identity of the main user of the account, so many users are deceived and click on the infected and malicious link in WhatsApp. which itself is the beginning of hacker penetration. It seems that phishing attacks are one of the most common types of attacks against WhatsApp users, because due to the advanced encryption capabilities used in this messenger, users only have to open the way for hackers to access their personal information.
What are phishing attacks?
The term Phishing, which is abbreviated from the term Password Harvesting Fishing, which means “obtaining a password through bait”, is one of the well-known cyber attacks based on social engineering, which is done by tricking target users into confidential information. and get their privacy including passwords, bank account information, personal information and content shared on social networks. According to many experts active in the field of cyber security, this method used by hackers appears so complete, advanced, flawless and natural that few users suspect that it is fake and fraudulent.
Unlike other cyber attacks that are carried out by hackers and cyber criminals or by exploiting the vulnerabilities in the software or hardware of the relevant electronic devices, phishing attacks are carried out by the victim user himself, because the hackers have tricked the users into obtaining the desired information with their own hands. present to them. Phishing attacks are one of the most common and easiest ways to steal users’ personal, financial, and privacy information online.
It should be noted that experts active in the field of cyber security have warned many times about the methods and tricks of hackers and cyber criminals and have advised them in their reports not to respond to unknown messages that ask them to pay money and buy tickets in cash. It will be online, don’t answer.
According to the news18 website, it seems that phishing attacks are one of the most common types of attacks that are made to WhatsApp users, because due to the advanced encryption capabilities used in this messenger, users only have to find the way for hackers to access their personal information. open the
In 2020, WhatsApp announced to its two billion users that it has the right to share user information with Facebook, the parent company of this messenger. Changes in WhatsApp’s terms and conditions allow the app to share user information with Facebook. Users had to agree to new terms that would allow them to be targeted with targeted ads, or they would lose access to their WhatsApp accounts.
In this regard, the Italian data protection watchdog announced in a statement that these changes should be evaluated cautiously with regard to privacy regulations, and this institution will seek the relevant instructions from the European Union’s High Privacy Authority.
Migration of users to competing services
The new conditions drew widespread criticism from tech experts, privacy advocates, billionaire entrepreneurs, and government agencies, and prompted a wave of user migration to competing services. Therefore, WhatsApp announced that these changes are necessary and help to better integrate this messenger with other Facebook products; In response to widespread criticism, this popular messenger has explained that the mentioned changes do not include the private messages of users with their friends and family.
After this issue, WhatsApp announced in a blog post that we have heard from many people about the confusion surrounding the update of the WhatsApp privacy policy and that there has been a lot of misinformation that has caused concern and we would like to help everyone understand the basics of this. understand the messenger and the facts. In other words, WhatsApp had previously asked users to agree to the new policy, but postponed this deadline for some time and was trying to explain these changes more.
According to this report, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) and its eight members criticized these changes and filed a complaint with the European Commission and the European Network of Consumer Authorities and announced that WhatsApp unfairly pressured users to accept the new policies. have given.
In a joint statement, these groups announced that the content of the notifications, their nature, the timing of their sending and repeating for users, has put pressure on consumers and undermined their freedom of choice. In this way, WhatsApp’s action violated the European Union’s directive on practices Trade has been unfair.
The plaintiffs stated that WhatsApp failed to explain the nature of these changes in a clear and understandable language. This ambiguity is a violation of EU consumer law, which forces companies to use clear contractual terms and commercial communications. But this issue did not end here and the WhatsApp messenger was fined by countries such as Ireland and Turkey and again warned by Europe.
Recently, news was published that a post sent in a well-known hacker community claimed that the information of almost half a billion WhatsApp users had been leaked and put up for sale. The post, which has been confirmed by multiple sources as possibly true, claims that the database is selling up-to-date information on 487 million mobile phone numbers used on WhatsApp, containing information from 84 countries. This means that almost a quarter of WhatsApp’s two billion monthly active users are at risk.
More than 32 million leaked information is related to US users and 11 million belongs to British users. Other countries include Egypt (45 million), Italy (35 million), Saudi Arabia (29 million), France (20 million), Turkey (20 million) and Russia (10 million). It seems that the information related to each country is for sale and the sale price of the US database is seven thousand dollars and the British statistics for the same per capita figure is $2,500.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that WhatsApp is in the headlines for information security, and although it is not the only company facing this problem, it has a long history of vulnerability and fraud.