"WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 3 billion users. But its ubiquity also makes it a target for attackers. In December, security researchers documented a new form of account hijacking called GhostPairing, which sees users tricked into linking an attacker's browser to their WhatsApp device. Meanwhile, in November, Austrian researchers plugged billions of numbers into WhatsApp's contact discovery tool to create " the most extensive exposure of phone numbers" ever-along with profile photos and more."
"WhatsApp is protected by end-to-end encryption, the gold standard of security that, when implemented properly, means only you and the person you're chatting with can read your messages. Behind the scenes, WhatsApp has also launched passkey-encrypted backups and privacy-enhanced AI technology. A good place to start is WhatsApp's Privacy Checkup feature in Settings under Privacy, which allows you to control who sees data such as your profile photo, About information, and status."
WhatsApp serves over three billion users and attracts attackers who exploit features to hijack accounts. GhostPairing tricks users into linking an attacker's browser to their WhatsApp device, enabling account takeover. Automated contact discovery abuse exposed billions of phone numbers, profile photos, and related metadata. WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption and recently added passkey-encrypted backups and privacy-enhanced AI to protect users. Users can control visibility of profile photo, About, status, and Last Seen via Privacy Checkup. Privacy Checkup also allows blocking contacts, restricting who can add users to groups, silencing unknown callers, and managing blocked lists. Disappearing messages delete chat content after set intervals to limit exposure from spyware or physical device access.
Read at WIRED
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