Meta has alerted nearly 200 iPhone and Android users after they were tricked into installing a spyware-laced fake WhatsApp app. Most victims are in Italy. WhatsApp said the attack used social engineering and confirmed its platform was not breached. The company has taken action against Italian spyware firm Asigint.
Meta has issued security alerts to nearly 200 iPhone and Android users after discovering they had been tricked into downloading a malicious, spyware-laced imitation of WhatsApp, with the trail leading back to an Italian surveillance company.
According to ANSA, Italy's national news agency, Meta issued warnings to approximately 200 iPhone and Android users, the majority of them Italian, who fell victim to a social engineering attack that led them to install a counterfeit version of WhatsApp. The bogus application was designed to mimic the real messaging platform while secretly compromising users' devices.
WhatsApp moved swiftly once the threat was identified. The company's security team logged the affected users out of their accounts and sent them direct warnings about the privacy and security risks they faced. In a statement to ANSA, WhatsApp said it believed the incident was "a social engineering attempt targeting a limited number of users, aimed at convincing them to install malicious software that mimicked WhatsApp, likely to gain access to their devices."
WhatsApp has taken action against Asigint
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