WhatsApp was exposed to a big data leak: Hackers sold nearly 500 million user information
Meta’s messaging software WhatsApp was “stolen”, and the information of nearly 500 million users may have been leaked.
Recently, a user posted on a well-known hacker forum, claiming that he is selling the information data of more than 487 million WhatsApp users. The digital security investigation media Cybernews reported on November 24 that it had obtained samples from sellers and confirmed that the data on sale did come from real users of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp was exposed to a big data leak
According to the user’s post, the above-mentioned data involved 84 countries and regions, of which about 32 million came from the United States, 45 million from Egypt, 35 million from Italy, and 20 million from France. The user said the data was “the phone numbers of active WhatsApp users” and the exact price was not disclosed. It is worth noting that the user information shows that the user only joined the forum in November of this year. Read More Satellite chengguan satellite achieved IPO on the science and technology innovation board
The user did not show the user’s data sample in the forum. The Paper reporter asked through the contact information provided by him, but no response was received as of press time.
However, Cybernews reported on November 24 that it obtained a data sample from the seller, and after an investigation confirmed that the sales data did come from real users of WhatsApp. The report said the sample included phone numbers of 1,097 UK users and 817 US users.
WhatsApp is a communication software owned by Meta. Founded in 2009, it was acquired by Meta, formerly known as Facebook, for $19 billion in 2014. As one of the most popular communication software overseas, WhatsApp has a huge user base. In Meta’s third quarterly report conference call, the company’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Mark Zuckerberg) said that WhatsApp’s monthly active users exceeded 2 billion .
Hackers sold nearly 500 million user information
Zuckerberg has high hopes for WhatsApp. Just last week, Zuckerberg said messaging software would be Meta’s next major business pillar. Zuckerberg said that compared with social software Facebook and Instagram, the monetization capabilities of communication software WhatsApp and Messenger are still in the early stages, but he said that although the company still believes that the metaverse is a long-term business opportunity in the future, the reality is that WhatsApp and Messenger More opportunities to promote the company’s sales growth. Read More:- 5G technology launched And The United States, Japan, and Europe are panicking
Meta has always been the “hardest hit area” of information leakage incidents. In March and October 2018, Facebook encountered user information “theft” twice. In April 2021, another hacker stole the personal data of about 533 million Facebook users, this time Zuckerberg’s phone number was among them. These users involved 106 countries, Facebook ID, user’s full name, location, birthday, personal profile and email address and other information were leaked.
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Mantas Sasnauskas, head of the Cybernews research team, said: “In this day and age where we leave quite a lot of information online, a tech giant like Meta should do everything it can to protect users’ data.
Sasnauskas believes that hackers will not worry about the terms “do not allow grabbing or abusing user data”, and technology companies should take strict measures to mitigate threats and prevent platforms from abusing data from a technical perspective.
