Some time ago WhatsApp announced that all its chats are protected by end-to-end encryption. However, you might be surprised how easy it is to hack your WhatsApp conversation if you are not protecting yourself.
WhatsApp is using your phone number, so hackers can take advantage of known flaws in wireless communication standards to snoop on your chats.
The most often SS7 vulnerabilities are used to trick a telecom operator that the hacker’s phone has the same number as the target. Since WhatsApp is tied to a phone number, all the hacker has to do to get access to someone’s account is to clone the target’s device using these vulnerabilities.
They receive the verification code from WhatsApp, and after that hackers are able to access WhatsApp messages sent to the target, and even retrieve a history of messages in case they’re backed up to the cloud.
You saw the hacks in the videos above.
Why SS7 issues are not fixed yet? As The Next Web explains, SS7 is a global network of telecom companies, so it’s pretty difficult to manage. SS7, short for Signaling System No. 7, is the network that connects one mobile phone network to another. Essentially, this is part of the backbone of wireless networks. Once a hacker obtains access to it, he or she can do a lot more than snoop on chats. They can listen in to phone call conversations, forward calls, and access SMS messages.
And the only reliable way to avoid this is using a vpn solution.
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