WhatsApp Alert: Amid its privacy concerns, WhatsApp is now found to have a vulnerability that can allow an attacker to suspend your account remotely by using your phone number. The flaw which has been found by security researchers looks like it is there on the instant messaging app for quite some time now. As per reports, a large number of WhatsApp users are said to be at risk as a remote attacker can deactivate WhatsApp on your phone and then restrict you from activating it back.
The startling revelation is quite a risk as Facebook-owned WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users globally. According to a report by News 18, security researchers, Luis Márquez Carpintero and Ernesto Canales Pereña have demonstrated the vulnerability and were able to kill WhatsApp on a user’s phone.
As per the report, there are two parts to this vulnerability – the first is how WhatsApp is installed on any device. Actually, when you install WhatsApp on your phone, you’ll get an SMS code to verify the SIM card and the number. The same thing can be done by a hacker too—install WhatsApp on their phone using your phone number. At this stage, there is nothing you can do, and WhatsApp on your phone can continue to work normally for the time being. However, after a certain stage, WhatsApp’s verification process will limit the number of codes that can be sent and will restrict the ability to generate more codes for a period of 12 hours. However, what you are not supposed to do at this stage is to deactivate WhatsApp on your phone and attempt to reinstall it. If you do this, then you will not be able to generate a code. This vulnerability is expected to affect WhatsApp for Android and WhatsApp for iPhone.