whatsapp

The makers of the controversial Pegasus spyware have been ordered to pay $167.25 million for exploiting a bug in WhatsApp. The company that makes Pegasus markets it as a crime fighting tool for government agencies. Israeli based NSO developed ... Pegasus to take advantage of a range of bugs through "zero-click" attacks that makes it possible to monitor somebody's phone without requiring any action from victim (such as clicking on a link or opening a phone). The software has proven controversial despite NSO's claims that it only makes it available for legitimate government surveillance. Critics ... (view more)

WhatsApp Windows users have been warned to check they are running the latest edition. A new update fixes a bug which could make it much easier to distribute malware. The issue is not with the more familiar mobile app, nor with the website version ... that's available by visiting https://web.whatsapp.com/ in a browser. Instead it's with the downloadable WhatsApp for Desktop Windows app that lets users make video calls and share their screen among other benefits. The security flaw involves the way users can send attachments. As The Register explains, such files come with accompanying data called ... (view more)

WhatsApp is adding a series of privacy and security features. However, several will be switched off by default so users should consider activating them. The messaging app, now owned by Facebook, has become popular thanks to two key features. It's ... designed to handle groups well so that users can send a message to a specific group of friends or colleagues in a more intuitive manner than Facebook's own messaging tools. It also uses end-to-end encryption, meaning not only that intercepting a message is of little use, but that Facebook cannot access messages even if it wanted to or was ordered to ... (view more)

Facebook and Instagram will not strengthen the encryption on their messaging until 2023, a year later than planned. The delay has been linked to complaints that the encryption could help abusers of children. At the moment, both service messages are ... encrypted between the sender and the company's servers and then from the company's servers to the recipient. That means anyone who intercepts the message in transit can't practically read it, but the company itself can. Although the companies say they do not access the messages normally, they may do so in response to a court order, law enforcement ... (view more)

Measures to stop misinformation spreading on messaging service WhatsApp appear to be making a difference. The Facebook-owned business says its seen fewer "highly forwarded messages". A couple of weeks back , WhatsApp took action after fears it was ... being used to spread bogus and potentially dangerous claims about COVID-19. One big worry was that people who saw a message in one group chat would forward it to multiple other group chats, quickly increasing the number of people who saw it. Extra Niggle May Spark Rethink The changes involved any message that had been forwarded at least five times. ... (view more)

A messaging service owned by Facebook is to change its policies to reduce the risk of people passing on bogus information. The WhatsApp changes follow a "significant increase" in forwarded messages since the COVID-19 pandemic began. WhatsApp lets ... users form and join multiple chat groups: for example, one for work colleagues, one for personal friends and one for neighbors. One key feature is that it's relatively simple to forward a message from one group to another, which means information can spread rapidly. That's particularly problematic when it comes to false and even dangerous information ... (view more)

A consumer group has accused Apple of significantly overstating battery life on iPhones. The group also said some manufacturer's smartphones perform much better than advertised. The claims come from "Which?," a British organization similar to ... Consumer Reports in the US. It tested a range of handsets from five leading manufacturers: Apple, HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Sony. (Source: which.co.uk ) The tests were specifically about talk time: how long the battery lasts while making voice calls. That's provoked some criticism from people who argue this is only a small part of battery life ... (view more)

A messaging service owned by Facebook is purposely limiting the amount of times users can forward a message. It's an attempt to slow the spread of false information. The change to WhatsApp follows a six month trial in India sparked off by several ... cases where bogus stories led to lynch mobs. WhatsApp lets users send text messages, video, images and documents. One of its core functions is a group system that lets a set of friends, family members, work colleagues or people with a share interest send a single message that reaches everyone in the group. The maximum group size is 256. One Message ... (view more)

Facebook is testing new tools to stop people being fooled by bogus messages. Meanwhile it's subsidiary "Whatsapp" is working on ways to stop hoaxes and other false information. The Facebook trial is for a series of tools relating to the direct ... messaging elements of the service, which includes messages through the website itself and via the dedicated "Messenger" app for mobile devices. The tools are aimed at messages which come from people or organizations the user hasn't previously communicated with, which carry a higher risk of being bogus than from genuine contacts. The ... (view more)

Scammers used a computer code loophole to trick more than a million people into downloading a rogue Android app. The fake variant of WhatsApp appears to have been designed to distribute ads. The bogus app took advantage of the popularity of the ... genuine WhatsApp Messenger, which has been downloaded more than 60 million times on Google Play alone. It's a tool for exchanging messages with friends or groups over the Internet rather than eating into SMS text message allowances. Extra Space Went Unseen "Update What's App Messenger" was one of numerous bogus apps that tried to mislead users with ... (view more)