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Update your WhatsApp now! Your voice calls maybe used to install Israeli spyware

WhatsApp Has Asked Users To Upgrade The App To The Latest Version To Prevent From Major Cybersecurity Breach

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Fayiq Wani | Updated on: 14 May 2019, 01:23:56 PM
A spyware software called Pegasus owned a private Israeli company NSO Group is said to have taken advantage of WhatsApp’s voice call function

New Delhi:

WhatsApp has asked users to upgrade the app to the latest version to prevent from major cybersecurity breach. A spyware software called Pegasus owned a private Israeli company NSO Group is said to have taken advantage of WhatsApp’s voice call function to carry out the attack, according to media reports. The security vulnerability affects both iPhone and Android devices.  

WhatsApp has admitted to the breach. "The attack has all the hallmarks of a private company known to work with governments to deliver spyware that reportedly takes over the functions of mobile phone operating systems. We have briefed a number of human rights organizations to share the information we can, and to work with them to notify civil society," Financial Times reported.

However, WhatsApp is too early into its own investigations. The issue is affecting WhatsApp for Android prior to v2.19.134, WhatsApp Business for Android prior to v2.19.44, WhatsApp for iOS prior to v2.19.51, WhatsApp Business for iOS prior to v2.19.51, WhatsApp for Windows Phone prior to v2.18.348, and WhatsApp for Tizen prior to v2.18.15.

On Monday, Amnesty International had said, supporting legal action to take the Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) to court, to demand that it revokes the export license of NSO Group, an Israeli company whose spyware products have been used in chilling attacks on human rights defenders around the world. In a petition to be filed tomorrow at the District Court of Tel Aviv, approximately 30 members and supporters of Amnesty International Israel and others from the human rights community set out how the MoD has put human rights at risk by allowing NSO to continue exporting its products."

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First Published : 14 May 2019, 01:23:56 PM

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