Just months after revealing that hackers remotely installed spyware on mobile phones and other devices, taking advantage of a vulnerability in WhatsApp messaging, cybersecurity experts spotted a new bug in the app.
In particular, the WhatsApp application belonging to Facebook revealed an error that could exploit hackers to steal personal data, images, and messages from users’ smartphones.
And as they pointed out, if users didn’t get the virus, hackers could send a video file with malware to the victims’ WhatsApp account. With this video – if users download it, the app does it automatically – cybercriminals can steal information from the device.
WhatsApp officials tried to inform users about the error in the system, stressing that so far there is no evidence that they used it to hack to steal data. “In this case, there is no reason to believe that users were affected,” a WhatsApp spokesman told HackerNews. The bug affects WhatsApp on all major platforms, including Android, iOS, and Windows.
In order to avoid problems, Facebook called on users to make sure they have the latest version of the app on their mobile phones and to automatically shut down images and video folders.
