Whatsapp

ESET researchers have identified an Android spyware campaign that uses romance scam tactics to target individuals in Pakistan. The operation relies on a malicious app disguised as a chat service that routes conversations through WhatsApp. Behind the romance lure, the app’s primary function is to steal data from infected devices. ESET tracks the malware as GhostChat. GhostChat attack flow (Source: ESET) The same threat actor appears to be running a wider surveillance effort. This includes a ClickFix attack that compromises victims’ computers and a WhatsApp device-linking attack that provides access to victims’ WhatsApp accounts. These related activities relied on websites impersonating Pakistani government organizations as lures. Victims downloaded GhostChat from unofficial sources and installed it manually. The app was never available on Google Play, and Google Play Protect, which is enabled by default, blocks it. “This campaign employs a method of deception that we have not previously seen in similar schemes – fake female profiles in GhostChat are presented to potential victims as locked, with passcodes required to access them. However, as the codes are hardcoded in the app, this is just a social engineering tactic likely aimed to create the impression of exclusive access for the potential victims,” says

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Meta has denied allegations that it reads users' private messages on WhatsApp, with WhatsApp head Will Cathcart calling them 'totally false'. Details here. WhatsApp head hits back at Elon Musk(MINT_PRINT) Meta has pushed back on allegations that it can secretly read users' private messages on WhatsApp, with the messaging platform's head, Will Cathcart, dismissing the claims as ‘totally false’. Cathcart's remarks were directly aimed at billionaire Elon Musk's claims that WhatsApp is ‘not safe’, and that users should rather switch to X's messaging service as a safer alternative for communication. “This is totally false. WhatsApp can’t read messages because the encryption keys are stored on your phone and we don’t have access to them,” Cathcart said in an X (formerly Twitter) post. These sharp remarks from Meta and rival company executives come amid renewed scrutiny of message security on WhatsApp after an international group of plaintiffs sued Meta platforms on Monday. The lawsuit accused the company of making false privacy claims. ‘Headline seeking lawsuit’ — WhatsApp chief responds The complaint makes serious claims that Meta employees can gain access to any user messages through an internet system, which means they can bypass the encryption that WhatsApp has marketed as its

WhatsApp is quietly rolling out a new safety layer for photos, videos, and documents, and it lives entirely under the hood. It won’t change how you chat, but it will change what happens to the files that move through your chats—especially the kind that can hide malware. The new feature, called Strict Account Settings, is rolling out gradually over the coming weeks. To see whether you have the option—and to enable it—go to Settings > Privacy > Advanced. Image courtesy of WhatsApp Yesterday, we wrote about a WhatsApp bug on Android that made headlines because a malicious media file in a group chat could be downloaded and used as an attack vector without you tapping anything. You only had to be added to a new group to be exposed to the booby-trapped file. That issue highlighted something security folks have worried about for years: media files are a great vehicle for attacks, and they do not always exploit WhatsApp itself, but bugs in the operating system or its media libraries. In Meta’s explanation of the new technology, it points back to the 2015 Stagefright Android vulnerability, where simply processing a malicious video could compromise a device. Back then, WhatsApp worked around the issue by teaching

WhatsApp is going through a rough patch. Some users would argue it has been ever since Meta acquired the once widely trusted messaging platform. User sentiment has shifted from “trusted default messenger” to a grudgingly necessary Meta product. Privacy-aware users still see WhatsApp as one of the more secure mass-market messaging platforms if you lock down its settings. Even then, many remain uneasy about Meta’s broader ecosystem, and wish all their contacts would switch to a more secure platform. Back to current affairs, which will only reinforce that sentiment. Google’s Project Zero has just disclosed a WhatsApp vulnerability where a malicious media file, sent into a newly created group chat, can be automatically downloaded and used as an attack vector. The bug affects WhatsApp on Android and involves zero‑click media downloads in group chats. You can be attacked simply by being added to a group and having a malicious file sent to you. According to Project Zero, the attack is most likely to be used in targeted campaigns, since the attacker needs to know or guess at least one contact. While focused, it is relatively easy to repeat once an attacker has a likely target list. And to put a

WhatsApp under fire. Corbis via Getty Images WhatsApp is under fire. A new lawsuit claims the messenger’s encryption claims are misleading and that Meta can read user messages after all. Meanwhile, Google warns there’s a serious new attack threat from photos sent by WhatsApp. So, do you suddenly need to stop using WhatsApp on your phone? Forbes Google Changes Gmail After 20 Years—Do Not Lose Your Account Now By Zak Doffman Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was first to strike at WhatsApp this week, following reports into a new lawsuit that Meta has dismissed as frivolous. "You’d have to be braindead to believe WhatsApp is secure in 2026," he posted on X. "When we analyzed how WhatsApp implemented its ‘encryption,’ we found multiple attack vectors.” Then unsurprisingly Elon Musk — plugging his own X Chat — went next: “WhatsApp is not secure. Even Signal is questionable. Use 𝕏 Chat.” Ironically, neither Telegram nor 𝕏 Chat is fully encrypted in the same way as WhatsApp, which has integrated Signal’s market-leading protocol to secure user content. “This is totally false,” WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart replied to Musk. “WhatsApp can’t read messages because the encryption keys are stored on your phone and we don’t

Ofcom opened an investigation into possible non-compliance by Meta Platforms regarding data provided by the company relating to instant messaging service WhatsApp, as part of one of the regulator’s market reviews. The regulator stated it issued Meta Platforms formal notices on 31 July 2024 and 19 June 2025 requiring information be provided of WhatsApp’s retail business messaging practices, as part of its Wholesale A2P SMS Termination Market review. Ofcom explained it issued the Facebook-owner with notices as it is a provider of alternative business messaging services and required the provision of a range of data concerning Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp Business platform. The available evidence suggests Meta Platforms “may not have complied with certain requirements”, in that some of the information provided “may not have been complete and accurate”. Ofcom said its investigation would determine if Meta Platforms had failed to comply with statutory requirements imposed by the notices. The information gathered “is a key part of Ofcom’s work and informs how it carries out certain statutory functions as a regulator”, it added. “It is therefore crucial that stakeholders provide accurate and complete information in a timely fashion.” In response, a Meta Platforms representative told Reuters it takes its regulatory obligations

Jelou is revolutionizing banking with WhatsApp Jelou Latin America is not digitizing the way Silicon Valley once predicted. More than 70% of digital purchases in Latin America are now made on smartphones, with younger consumers often skipping desktop experiences entirely. The result? A new kind of financial and commercial infrastructure, one that looks less like a traditional tech stack and more like a chat window that actually gets things done. Rather than moving gradually from spreadsheets to software to sophisticated platforms, much of the region is leapfrogging straight into conversational, AI-powered workflows that live inside messaging apps. This shift is not superficial. It is structural. And it is quietly reshaping how money moves, how businesses operate, and who gets to participate in the formal economy. From Chat To Execution Fintech has revolutionized the Latin American tech landscape AFP via Getty Images “Latin America is not digitalizing in a slow, linear way. It is leapfrogging, and startups are the ones building the bridges,” according to Oscar Gonzalez of 8888 Home, a Latin America–focused real estate and homeownership platform that works with digitally native buyers and sellers across emerging markets. Across the region, founders are building products that collapse complexity into simple

In a lawsuit filed Friday in US District Court in San Francisco, the plaintiffs allege Meta’s public assurances — including WhatsApp’s in-app message stating 'only people in this chat can read' messages — are false. They claim Meta and WhatsApp 'store, analyse, and can access" most user communications, and that WhatsApp’s privacy marketing has misled users worldwide.

Meta Platforms ($META) is facing a new lawsuit that questions how private WhatsApp messages really are. An international group of plaintiffs filed ...