Technology

WhatsApp data of 500 million users available for purchase, says report

2 min readWrite a Comment on WhatsApp data of 500 million users available for purchase, says report

Wishma TV : It’s worth noting that none of the 500 million or so user profiles compromised in the WhatsApp data hack appear to be from India.

imagesoce

In a recent update, Cybernews wrote, “The claim talked about here is based on unverified screenshots.”

Not a single shred of evidence points to WhatsApp having suffered a “data leak.” An official WhatsApp spokesperson


WhatsApp is widely regarded as a secure instant messaging programme that can be used across platforms and is compatible with nearly any device due to its use of technologies,

including end-to-end encryption. According to a recent claim from Cybernews, however,

hackers have successfully breached WhatsApp and taken the personal information of around 500 million users.

The article claims that a hacker advertised the mobile numbers of over 487 million WhatsApp users on a forum frequented by the hacking community.

Users from 84 nations are said to be included in the data, which also includes 32 million American users, according to the listing.
Users’ information from countries like Egypt, Italy, Saudi Arabia, France, and Turkey has also been compromised.

The fact that there is no information about Indian users on the list is also intriguing. The WhatsApp user database in the United States may be purchased for $7,000;

The databases in the United Kingdom and Germany cost $2,500 and $2,000, respectively.

A sample of data, included 1097 US phone numbers and 817 UK phone numbers, were given by the hacker to cybernews in responding to requests for a sample.

Phone numbers that were compromised can be used for phishing, identity theft, and other illicit purposes.

Meta has not replied to this latest development as of yet. There is currently speculation that the data of about 500 million

WhatsApp users was collected by online scraping or web harvesting,

in which an automated data tool is used to capture data from a specific site, in direct violation of WhatsApp’s terms of service.

You may like reading the following news:

EU opens up 5G on planes, making in-flights calls more likely

WhatsApp data of 500 million users available for purchase, says report

2 min read

Wishma TV: Interestingly, it appeared that no Indian user data was involved in the large WhatsApp data attack, which included approximately 500 million user records.

imagesoce

In a recent version, Cybernews stated, “The claim written about here is based on unconfirmed screenshots.” That WhatsApp has had a “data leak” cannot be verified. WhatsApp’s official spokesperson


WhatsApp is widely regarded as a secure instant messaging programme that can be used across platforms and is compatible with nearly any device due to its use of technologies, including end-to-end encryption. According to a recent claim from Cybernews, however, hackers have successfully breached WhatsApp and taken the confidential information of around 500 million users.

A hacker allegedly advertised online the mobile numbers of over 487 million WhatsApp users on an online message board frequented by other hackers. Data from 84 nationalities, including 32 million American users, is said to be included, according to the listing.
Information from users in countries as diverse as Egypt, Italy, Saudi Arabia, France, and Turkey has also been compromised. It’s also worth noting that there’s no user information from India on the list. A database of US WhatsApp users costs $7,000. Databases for the UK and Germany cost $2,500 and $2,000, respectively.

Hacker supplied CyberNews with such a tiny sample of data, comprising 1097 US phone numbers and 817 UK phone numbers, after already being asked for a sample. Phishing, fraud, and impersonation are also all probable uses for the exposed phone numbers.

Meta has not responded back to this current update as of yet. Web scraping and web harvesting are practises that involve using an automated data tool to collect information from a specific service, in this case WhatsApp. This practise is believed to have resulted in the theft of the private information of approximately 500 million users, in violation of WhatsApp’s terms of service.

You may like reading the following news:

EU opens up 5G on planes, making in-flights calls more likely