Hacking into WhatsApp and Telegram is now easy thanks to network flaw

Hackers are exploiting a well-publicized flaw in telecom services to spoof WhatsApp and Telegram identities and hack other people’s accounts. The hackers only need a number and with that, they can hack into any phone and WhatsApp or Telegram account with a minimum of effort. The flaw rests in a signaling protocol called SS7 and hackers can exploit that to target and identify a phone number. They can then track that user, and gather all the data that is being sent to and from the device being targeted, reports Forbes.

While that’s bad enough, services like WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal were immune owing to their in-built encryption protocols. The actual bits of data being accessed by those apps was easy to access, but the information was encrypted and impossible to decode. Until now. Hackers have now finds a way to exploit SS7 loopholes to spoof the other person’s number. WhatsApp and Telegram will attempt to verify a spoofed account, but because they’ll detect the same phone number, they’ll send the secret key that enables decryption of all data. That’s it! A simple hack and any hacker will have access to your phone and all the information on it. At the moment, there’s nothing you can really do except hope that your telecom operators are smart enough to suitably upgrade their protocols and install sufficient firewalls.