http://m.independent.ie/business/technology/fake-whatsapp-attachments-used-to-trick-people-into-installing-viruses-onto-their-phones-35340950.html
Fake WhatsApp attachments used to trick people into installing viruses onto
their phones
Andrew Griffin 04/01/2017 | 10:50
1
The next WhatsApp message you open might lead to your whole life being stolen.
Criminals are using the hugely popular chat app to break into people's phones,
distributing viruses and harvesting personal information.
The latest warnings have been distributed to India's centrals security agencies.
Messages apparently aimed at members of the police, army and security
organisations are receiving messages that apparently come from organisations
including India's National Investigation Agency.
But when the documents are opened up, they in fact include a host of viruses
that make their way onto the phone.
Once that has happened, the files are able ot extra personal information like
login details and banking details, according India's Economic Times. The
problem appears to be limited primarily to Android phones.
The hack is just the latest example of malicious criminals using WhatsApp as a
way of stealing details or money from people.
Those scams take a number of different forms, but are primarily delivered
through the form of a message that looks harmless or useful but is in fact able
to take over the device.
As such, security experts advise that people never click suspect looking
messages â whether on WhatsApp or anywhere else.
Even if a friend appears to send a message it is worth checking whether that
attachment was legitimately sent, since viruses are often able to spread
themselves by looking like more ordinary messages.
WhatsApp introduced document sharing as part of a recent update apparently
intent on making the chat app into more of a useful platform for work. But it
also adds extra vulnerabilities, because documents like Excel spreadsheets and
PDFs can include viruses.
Independent News Service
Sent from my iPhone
===========================================================
The fb-exchange mailing list
Manage account, subscribe or unsubscribe:
//www.freelists.org/list/fb-exchange
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/fb-exchange ;
Administrative contact: insight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
===========================================================
