WhatsApp with security breach
WhatsApp is in the news because of a security flaw. Researchers from Vienna University have discovered that the feature, which allows you to find contacts, can be abused. This feature usually works very conveniently, in that by searching on a phone number or your contacts, you can see if someone is using WhatsApp. However, it was noted by researchers that this could also cause some problems.
The leak is far from new. For instance, the leak was discovered back in 2017. That was then waved away by Meta, the parent company. However, it turns out that it is therefore still possible to collect data. The researchers managed to do just that, where massive profile photos, profile texts (the over-description) could be linked to phone numbers. When users have the information visible to everyone, someone has instant access to all the information.
WhatsApp reports that the vulnerability has since been addressed. However, the company is not talking about a security breach. When data is shielded by the user, it is also not visible. However, technical measures have been taken to limit so-called scrapping, where information is requested automatically. However, this is denied by the researchers, as no restrictions were encountered by them.
You can do this yourself
You cannot hide your phone number, but you can control who the data can be seen by. By adjusting the privacy settings, you can protect yourself. You can do this through the following steps.
- In WhatsApp, go to 'Settings'.
- Choose the 'Privacy' option.
- Here, choose per item, who can see which information. For example, choose your profile picture, profile text, last seen and more.
- If you want to remain as anonymous as possible, set this to 'my contacts' or 'nobody'.
