WhatsApp Security Breach Patched

Written by

WhatsApp users have been asked to update their app version urgently following a major Whatsapp security breach.

The exploit is believed to be possible via a missed WhatsApp voice call, made possible by a software loophole recently introduced to limit message forwarding. Affected users would be unaware that their device might be compromised.

The Financial Times’ exclusive report links the breach to NSO Group, an Israeli private cybersecurity company whose private customer list is likely to include military, security and law enforcement clients.

Analysts believe the technique has probably so far only been used to ‘eavesdrop’ on high-profile targets with especially security-sensitive information, although today’s announcement raises the possibility that criminal third-parties may attempt to exploit the same vulnerability against ‘ordinary’ WhatsApp users such as civilians.

WhatsApp has utilised end-to-end encryption since 2016 across both Apple and Android smartphone devices, making it a common communication medium for personal use, but also for organised crime. There are more than 1.5 billion users worldwide, making WhatsApp security a truly global concern.

Smartphone users are being advised to update their copy of the App to the latest version – 2.19.134 on Android and 2.19.51 on iOS or newer.

 

For Mobile technology assistance and expertise – contact Lineal today.

Whatsapp, Messenger and Instagram to Merge Messaging

Written by

Facebook has announced plans to merge WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram’s messaging capabilities.

The social media technology giant plans for interoperable communication between each platform, although the development is stated to be the start of a “long process” and the apps will remain independent.

The consolidation may be good news for consumer-facing businesses, as dramatically more of the world’s smartphone chat users are centralised under a common standard for instant messaging.

WhatsApp released a Business version in 2018, suggesting that the chat software provider believes the public will increasingly seek to engage with businesses directly via such chat apps in preference to traditional methods such as email or phone call.

Whatsapp (over 1.5 billion active users globally), Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion) and Instagram (1 billion) will easily represent the largest collective chat application user base in the world, and the most popular across Europe, Africa, North America and South America.

The coagulated mass of (WhatsMessengerGram?) will also allow Facebook to better compete with Google’s unified Messenger App, and Apple’s iMessage platforms, as well as further challenge regionally strong chat applications with tertiary functions – such as payment transferring WeChat, preeminent among Chinese smartphone users.

Facebook’s project is set to be completed later during 2019.

For IT and communications expertise, contact Lineal today.

WhatsApp Encryption Launches

Written by

 

Popular messaging app WhatsApp have launched end-to-end WhatsApp encryption for over one billion users.

The new security capabilities introduced by the Facebook owned company ensures that every message remains encrypted during transmission, preventing even WhatsApp from reading user data.

With encryption and technological privacy issues regularly appearing in recent news headlines, the WhatsApp encryption upgrade comes at just the right moment for the security concerned, after more than two years of delays in development across multiple platforms.

Much like during Apple’s recent legal dispute with the FBI, the move would also prevent the release of confidential user data following a court order. According to reports from the New York Times, the technology provider have been reported to already be in a longstanding dispute with the US Department of Justice over user data.

WhatsApp are making it clear they support absolute user privacy, with “not even WhatsApp” able to read the encrypted data, and users able to verify their connections are secure via a 60 digit or QR code swap.

From today, the WhatsApp conversation screen will now display an official notification to all users – confirming that their messages are encrypted successfully.

 

For hardware and software security advice – contact Lineal today.