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| WhatsApp Bug alert! Your phone number could be available on Google search |
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NEW DELHI : WhatsApp has been susceptible to a number of flaws in the past. Now, a new WhatsApp flaw has been discovered that can expose users' mobile numbers on Google Search for anyone to access them. Read on to know more about the latest WhatsApp glitch.
WhatsApp flaw exposes users' phone numbers
As per a report by Threatpost, a cybersecurity researcher Athul Jayaram found a flaw in WhatsApp due to which thousands of WhatsApp numbers can be searched on Google, thus, arising security concerns. It is suggested that up to 3,00,000 phone numbers have been leaked on Google Search in plain text. Additionally, the bug has affected users from India, the US, the UK, and other countries.
The vulnerability resides in WhatsApp's 'Click to Chat' feature that allows users to conduct conversations with people without saving their numbers. The feature generates the URL "https://wa.me/
While only the mobile numbers are exposed on Google Search, users can still access the profile photos related to numbers and hackers can even reverse-search the image to get more information on the person the number and DP belong to. For this, Jayaram suggests that WhatsApp should encrypt users' phone numbers and add 'robots.txt' so that bots can't crawl the domains.
WhatsApp Bug alert! Your phone number could be available on Google search
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| WhatsApp Bug alert! Your phone number could be available on Google search |
Jayaram contacted Facebook regarding the issue and was informed that the issue doesn't qualify for a bug bounty as only Facebook platforms are included in the program. Additionally, Facebook suggests that this isn't a big deal as the information exposed is the one users choose to make public.
Joseph Cox@josephfcoxNew: Google is letting anyone find invite links to some private WhatsApp groups. Here is one we joined that is supposed to be for United Nations NGOs judging by its description. Can see members and get numbers https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/k7enqn/google-is-letting-people-find-invites-to-some-private-whatsapp-groups …View image on Twitter3817:59 PM - Feb 21, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy244 people are talking about this
For those who don't know, earlier this year, another bug was found out by a journalist at DW News, suggesting that the WhatsApp invite links for WhatsApp Groups can be indexed by Google, leaving private group links available on Google.
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