What Probable WhatsApp Data breach means to it’s Billions of Users Worldwide.

As reported by Cybernews, on November 16, an actor posted an ad on a well-known
hacking community forum, claiming they were selling a 2022 database of 487 million
WhatsApp user mobile numbers.
The dataset allegedly contains WhatsApp user data from 84 countries. Threat actor
claims there are over 32 million US user records included.
Another huge chunk of phone numbers belongs to the citizens of Egypt (45 million),
Italy (35 million), Saudi Arabia (29 million), France (20 million), and Turkey (20
million).
The dataset for sale also allegedly has nearly 10 million Russian and over 11 million
UK citizens’ phone numbers.
The threat actor told Cybernews they were selling the US dataset for $7,000, the UK
– $2,500, and Germany – $2,000.
This was not the first time that a data breach of this proportion has been alleged
against a Meta Platforms or similar big platforms. Data breaches and hacks are
today’s biggest problems. Some sample similar data breaches and hacks are: CHI
Health data breach, Facebook data breach, Uber security data breach, American
Airlines data breach, Medibank cyber attack, and Binance hack etc.
Though WhatsApp has denied the breach. In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson
said that the data breach report was “based on unsubstantiated screenshots,” and
that the company had “no evidence of a ‘data leak’.”
It is not sure if the data of millions of users are hacked or not, But the biggest
question is how we protect ourselves from such probable attacks. In specific to
WhatsApp, you can take care of the following:
• Check chat encryption
• Enable two-factor authentication
• Turn security notifications on
• Encrypt cloud backups
• Always check unknown links
We are Group Cyber enthusiast in 22nd Century technologies, and we understand the
cybersecurity landscape and the ever-evolving challenges organizations face. Our
highly trained cyber experts come from the DOD, Federal Government, and various
industry verticals. We offer full-spectrum cyber services, tailored to your
organization’s individual needs.
Credit: https://cybernews.com/ , https://www.aninews.in/, https://dataconomy.com/