The WhatsApp story has always been into controversy from the beginning. From mob lynching over fake news in India to security breaches around the world, it just can’t seem to break up with of all of this. The recent controversy to bring the app in limelight is once again a security breach.
WhatsApp last week confirmed of a breach, which it thinks is coming from the Government using surveillance technology. This surveillance technology has been built by a private company. The breach is intended to bring harm to Human Rights group.
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WhatsApp breach
In the wake of this incident, WhatsApp has urged its users to switch to the new version of the app that is free from the breach.
In its statement to the media, the company said that it is looking into the matter. Only a select number of users have been targeted until now.
WhatsApp has not clearly mentioned how many users have been affected by the breach. However, it is confirmed that users on both iOS and Android platforms we affected by this breach.
A company professional claimed the attack was quite sophisticated. From the signs, it appears that a private company working with the government is behind it.
Who is the culprit?
According to WhatsApp, this spyware is created by some Israeli cyber surveillance company called NSO group. But the company has not gone with the attribution that clearly since it is hard to do so. It has hidden its claims behind some caveats.
NSO has not released any statement yet regarding the whole episode. All it has said that it would look into the matter.
“It never picks or identifies targets of its technology, which is solely operated by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. NSO would not or could not use its technology in its own right to target any person or organization, including this individual,”
the company said.