WhatsApp Video Call Can Hack Your Phone: 5 Things No One Told You
A new bug was found, which used video calls to hack any phone.
The Facebook-owned WhatsApp recently was hit by a bug that let hackers take control of your account. You will receive a video call, and if you answer it, the bug will let the hacker get access to your WhatsApp account.
WhatsApp says they have fixed the bug, and hackers can’t anymore get access to your account.
The bug was first discovered by a security researcher at Google in August. The bug made the app vulnerable to be hacked and put users at risk. The company later said that they have fixed it, but here a few things you still need to know about.
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Memory Corruption & Whatsapp Video Call Hack
It’s a memory corruption bug present in the non-WebRTC video conferencing implementation. The bug made them vulnerable to a number of hacks which risked both Android and iOS WhatsApp users.
Once on a video call, the bug would corrupt the account through the video call via an RTP packet.
Risky Video Calls
Your WhatsApp will receive a malformed RTP packet when you are on a video call. The hacker will get it delivered to the victim’s phone via the WhatsApp video call due to its deformity. This risked the data and other information when on a video call on the mobile app.
The memory corruption bug opened up a gateway for hackers. They used video calls to hack into the user’s phones via WhatsApp.
Mobile Users Affected Only
The bug has only affected the mobile phones. The Real-time Transport Protocol or RTP is used for video calls done via a smartphone. Web users were not affected due to that latest WhatsApp bug. On the web, WhatsApp doesn’t use WebRTC for video calls.
So, the bug didn’t work on the web versions of WhatsApp. Only the mobile users, both iOS and Android had the bug.
WhatsApp Says There Have Been No Attacks
A company employee dealing with the issue has said there was no evidence of hackers actually hacking any data. They say the bug has not been exploited to launch attacks. In their defense, WhatsApp said that they routinely engage with security researchers from around the world to make sure that WhatsApp stays safe and reliable.
The latest version of WhatsApp on both iOS and Android has been fixed and the video call bug issue related to the Whatsapp Video Call hack has been resolved.
Are You Still At Risk?
Travis Ormandy, a researcher at Google Project Zero said on Twitter, “Just answering a call from an attacker could completely compromise WhatsApp”. WhatsApp says they have fixed the bug and its safe now. But, an official confirmation is still awaited.
Till then its better to not receive a video call from any stranger. Even if you receive such a call, it’s better to avoid for the time being.
Found in late August, the bug was fixed on September 28 for the Android users and on October 3 for the iOS. The company has already released the latest update, so it’s highly recommended that you update your WhatsApp to the latest version as soon as possible.
Lately, another new method of WhatsApp hacking is growing. Hackers are using the voicemail systems to hack into users’ WhatsApp accounts.
