During the last time, many WhatsApp users had their information stolen. From a methodology that uses voicemaillos hackers manage to take control of an account and from that moment they can impersonate the user to carry out different types of fraud. how this works and what to do to avoid it.
The enormous expansion of the messaging service in recent years has led to more and more people using it. With various updates and more and more tools and functions available, millions of people in Argentina and the world use it.
In this context, privacy and protection of information is extremely important. Despite frequent changes to the Meta platform to avoid problems, some security holessometimes from the app itself and at other times from the mobile device, make users unprotected.
The methodology used by hackers uses a very common security flaw. The robbery done through account verificationfor which WhatsApp send a code.
As happens when you start using the service, you can activate the account with the use of the phone number. From any device, a person can type any number and associate that service account with their cell phone.
Once this information has been selected, the application must verify that this number does indeed want to activate your account. For that, send a six digit code. This can be sent through an SMS or a call.
In case of choosing the second optionimmediately the communication will be generated with an automatic answering machine that when answering it will dictate the number. If the call is not answered, the code will remain in a message within the voicemail and that is where the theft of information occurs.
Although many do not know it, the voice mail can be consulted from another phone number. To do it, only you must use a four-digit PIN. The problem is that being practically in disuse, most users never changed this password and has the default combination. In many cases, this is very simple and easy to guess.
In the event that the hacker can access the voicemail, they will have the code available to activate WhatsApp and therefore be able to manage the account from their device.
The most effective measure once morest this and other vulnerabilities is the two-step verification. This is an additional six-digit PIN that is created by the user and that is then requested as an additional measure when activating an account.
On the other hand, it would also be a good measure change the voicemail PIN or even close it if it is deprecated. The process varies according to each company and model, but in general it consists of a few simple steps.
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