In an unprecedented move, Indian Army has issued an advisory for all Indians, cautioning them against Chinese hackers who are now targeting WhatsApp groups.
Considering that there are more than 200 million or 20 crore WhatsApp users in India, this advisory should be considered as a serious warning.
We are terming this unprecedented because there are very few instances when Indian Army has come out openly against Chinese hackers, that too concerning a messenger app.
But, the question is, is hacking WhatsApp group really possible?
Indian Army: Chinese Are Targeting Your WhatsApp Groups!
Indian Army’s official handle, the Additional Directorate General of Public Interface (ADGPI) has released a video on their official Twitter handle, wherein all Indians are being warned against Chinese hackers.
As per the video, Chinese hackers have found a new way to get into Whatsapp groups, and then silently steal all information related to the Group members.
The video also details how the Chinese hackers are entering WhatsApp groups: Via phone numbers starting with +86.
Their Tweet said,
“Stay cautious, stay alert, stay safe! The Chinese were penetrating the digital world,”
Indian Army has asked all Whatsapp users to stay vigilant and alert against such unknown +86 numbers joining Whatsapp groups, and wreaking havoc all across.
You can watch the video here:
Last year, Home Ministry had ordered all Defense personals to delete all Chinese apps from their phones.
Can WhatsApp Groups Be Hacked?
Yes, Indian Army is absolutely correct in their assessment regarding hacking of WhatsApp groups.
Researchers from Ruhr University in Germany had found out that a major security flaw in the backend of WhatsApp allows hackers to take control of WhatsApp groups, and then steal information, data from the participants of the group chat.
Paul Rösler, one of the researchers who wrote the research paper stated that in order to hack WhatsApp group, the hacker will need to take control of the WhatsApp server, which seems highly unlikely, but not impossible.
Once a new member joins a WhatsApp group, all participants of the group share their encryption keys with the new member, which leaves a huge doorway open for exploitation.
Paul had said,
“The confidentiality of the group is broken as soon as the uninvited member can obtain all the new messages and read them,”
Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos has denied any such possibility.
We will keep you updated.