WhatsApp will stop working on some smartphones in 2021 -
Geeko
New malware is currently plaguing the WhatsApp messaging app.
It is cybersecurity researcher Lukas Stefanko d'Eset who is sounding the alarm about this particularly expansive new virus.
The researcher explains that once it has infected a smartphone, it automatically sends a tricked download link to received WhatsApp messages, in order to spread.
A method that can be effective, especially since it usurps the identity of Google Play and an official Huawei app to achieve its ends.
The download link refers in fact to a fake web page taking the appearance of the Google application store and offers to download a supposedly official Huawei app.
The illusion is perfect, so that inexperienced users can easily get fooled.
Take over
During the installation of this fake application, it will ask for important access rights, including the ability to overlay applications on top of other apps and the right to read the notifications received.
Thanks to these permissions, the malware will be able to display fake advertising, but also fake login pages to retrieve the identifiers of its victims.
The second will allow it to make more victims.
When receiving a WhatsApp message, the malware will automatically respond to the message through the app's “quick reply” function.
His response will consist of the famous tricked download link and the following message;
"Download this application and win a smartphone".
A simple, yet effective message that might appeal to young, gullible users or people unfamiliar with phishing campaigns and other online scams.
It is obviously advisable to be critical when receiving a link with such a suspicious message.
If in doubt, ask your contact for confirmation regarding this link and the message received.
At least this time around, the problem isn't with WhatsApp, but with malicious people.
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