Whatsapp Messenger is one of the most popular instant messaging mobile applications in the world with an estimate of at least 65 billions being sent every day.
This Face Book owned messaging application that gained popularity due to it’s fast message exchange, ease access, ease to use and low mobile data consumption is estimated to be in usage on over 1.5 billion android and Apple (IOS) operating systems activated devices every day.
With the increase in the number and chances of potential online scams, rumors and fake news, it seems it has also taken over this famed messaging platform most popular in the United States of America, Africa and Europe. The recently discovered vulnerability is the ‘FakesApp’.
FakesApp is the new whatsapp Hack that may lead to a lot of misinformation in groups as hackers might have discovered a way to change names and identities of people in Whatsapp groups.
This Hack allows hackers to intercept and manipulate messages sent in both private and group conversations when you use the reply feature. They can change the identity of the sender which can affect information sent which has given these attackers immense power to create and spread misinformation from what appears to be trusted sources.
This shocking vulnerability was revealed by the Check Point Research and three possible methods of attack exploiting this vulnerability were discovered all of which involve social engineering tactics to fool end-users.
These attacker can either use the ‘quote’ feature in a group conversation to change the identity of the sender, even if that person is not a member of the group or Alter the text of someone else reply, essentially putting words in their mouth.
Attackers can also send a private message to another group participant that is disguised as a public message for all, so when the targeted individual responds, it’s visible to everyone in the conversation.
Following the process of Responsible Disclosure, Check Point Research informed WhatsApp of their findings on these vulnerabilities that require utmost attention.
Watch this Video to see how this Hack works.