Keep Calm and Update Whatsapp
By MYBRANDBOOK
WHAT HAS HAPPENED, and WHY IS IT A BIG DEAL?
NSO group, a secretive Israeli company has been marketing a vulnerability called a ‘Zero Click Zero Day’ vulnerability in Whatsapp for about a year to surveillance agencies and governments. This type of vulnerability is one where the maker of the app itself, in this case, Whatsapp itself was not aware that a vulnerability existed, and so a Zero Day. ‘Zero Click’ because the targeted user does not need to click on anything, or open anything, it happens silently in the background.
STATEMENT FROM OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT: Ankush Johar, Director at HumanFirewall, an award-winning security awareness and end-to-end remediation platform that transforms human behaviour.
“This type of vulnerability is lethal, because ‘Zero Click Zero Day’ type vulnerabilities mean that the attacker is able to infect your phone without you taking any action whatsoever. Just a phone call on WhatsApp and your phone gets infected. It is that lethal.”
“It is yet unclear whether this infection can spread from WhatsApp to the entire device yet, but Whatsapp data itself including calls and messages definitely are. Also, it is not known yet if updating to the latest build removes the infection from an already infected device.”
“It is a big deal because such vulnerabilities are extremely dangerous and can hurt free speech activists, lawyers, critical agencies’ employees, journalists, human rights defenders among others. They think that their conversations are encrypted end-to-end and cannot be intercepted, but with this vulnerability, they can!”
WHY KEEP CALM?
Such vulnerabilities carry multi-million dollar price tags, and unless your conversations are meant to be ultra confidential, and you are involved in handling highly sensitive matters, you are unlikely to have been targeted. This does not mean that you have not been targeted.
For users handling sensitive matters, we recommend that you do a fresh install of Whatsapp, and start afresh, i.e no reloading of backed up data. The infection may get reloaded from the backup data as well.
“The only solution from a consumer perspective lies in becoming suspicious by nature and be always vigilant of such mishaps. Diligently following some good practices mentioned below can always help you safeguard and be in a much secure place” says Ankush Johar, Director at HumanFirewall, an information security platform aimed at altering one’s psychology through simulated attacks and effective training.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Nazara and ONDC set to transform in-game monetization with ‘
Nazara Technologies has teamed up with the Open Network for Digital Comme...
Jio Platforms and NICSI to offer cloud services to government
In a collaborative initiative, the National Informatics Centre Services In...
BSNL awards ₹5,000 Cr Project to RVNL-Led Consortium
A syndicate led by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (abbreviated as RVNL), along wi...
Pinterest tracks users without consent, alleges complaint
A recent complaint alleges that Pinterest, the popular image-sharing platf...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Netflix adds 'Moments' feature for saving, sharing scenes from
Netflix has introduced a new “Moments” feature on its mobile app, whic
Jacqueline Fernandez come together with YouTuber Mr. Beast for
Jacqueline Fernandez has partnered with American YouTuber Mr. Beast to b
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Visa elevates Rishi Chhabra as new Country Manager for India
Rishi holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from The Ohio State Univ
Genesys welcomes Albert Nel as Senior VP and Regional Sales Le
Genesys continues to deepen its investment in the APAC region. Earlier this
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
Delivering Critical Business Communication Solutions to Enterp
Arya Omnitalk and Syntel’s comprehensive suite of solutions and more than
Autodesk continually pushing the boundaries in the Design and
Autodesk’s vision is of a better world designed and made for all. It inte
HOT PICK
SonicWall Launches TZ80: A Powerful Solution for Remote Office
SonicWall announced today the launch of the TZ80, a groundbreaking securit
Gigabyte X3D Turbo: A Gaming Revolution
GIGABYTE X3D Turbo Mode is a cutting-edge feature that unifies cores distr
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
FIRE BOLTT
EXIDE INDUSTRIES LTD.
FRESHWORKS TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD.
TAC SECURITY SOLUTIONS
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
Icons Of India : Bhavish Aggarwal
Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal is the CEO of Ola, India’s larg...
Icons Of India : ALOK OHRIE
Alok Ohrie leads Dell Technologies’ India business, overseeing Sales...
Icons Of India : Daisy Chittilapilly
Daisy Chittilapilly is the President of Cisco’s India and SAARC regi...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
GeM - Government e Marketplace
GeM is to facilitate the procurement of goods and services by various ...
ITI - ITI Limited
ITI Limited is a leading provider of telecommunications equipment, sol...
NIC - National Informatics Centre
NIC serves as the primary IT solutions provider for the government of ...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Global Indian industry
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - AJAY BANGA, President - World Bank
Ajay Banga is an Indian-born American business executive who currently...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Steve Sanghi, Executive Chair, Microchip
Steve Sanghi, the Executive Chair of Microchip Technology, has been a ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO- Micron Technology
Sanjay Mehrotra, the President and CEO of Micron Technology, is at the...
STARNITE AWARDS 2024
ITFORUM 2024
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
IMAGE GALLERY
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
