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Recent security research shows that WhatsApp has a security issue on its functions when displaying the presence of the user online. With the help of your presence on WhatsApp, they can check and steal your details at any time. At the same time, the researcher also explains applications like status trackers will not only identify your presence, it will also monitor your internet searches on daily basis.
WhatsApp is a secured messaging application
You all know that nowadays you will use some android application to pass your time with someone on your friend list. Here, passing means you should be connected with your friend at any time online. For that, you will have to visit and download the specific application in the app store. Later, you’re meeting or chatting method will run based on the application you are choosing. Applications like Facebook, Snapchat, Skype, telegram, and Viber have ruled the entire internet world with their special updates and features when compared to their competitors. These apps were played a major part in instant messaging, video calling, file sharing, and many reliable features while using them.
In 2009, after WhatsApp was launched, its users started to grow every year. Now it is best known for its security, video calls, and instant messaging features with special updates. Even though, if you are using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as a messaging application, you will also use WhatsApp for private use. Due to its popularity, it has more than 2 billion around the world in different languages.
Features in WhatsApp application
You might know the active users of the WhatsApp application at present. Because of its value, Facebook purchased it and inserting its special functions every year. WhatsApp not only supporting instant messaging, but it is also for the following features:
WhatsApp supports payment functions in its implementation. Through that, you can transfer the money from your bank to another bank. Very few banking sectors are allowing this service through WhatsApp.
- Message deleting features added to delete wrong messages in single or group chat for a particular time.
- WhatsApp QR codes allow you to use your account on any computer system with the help of the WhatsApp web feature.
- The muting function will help you to put your chat on hold and later you can redo it.Likewise, WhatsApp group calls and dark mode functionalities helped in improving the user interface design.
- Additional searching functions make every searching operation easy.
Security issue on WhatsApp features
According to researchers, WhatsApp has some security issues on its implementation and they further explained it is an indirect way to help the attackers to steal your information. In WhatsApp, you might know that your existence is known by the status of your presence at any time. Similarly, you will also see your contacts who are on your friend list, which will also be denoted by the time and date of their presence. It will help you to identify the particular person who is present online or not. Here, a thirty-party application like a status tracker will help hackers to find your presence on your WhatsApp account.
Mr. Matt boddy who is working in the research team examined WhatsApp by using the status tracker application and explained, if you are a WhatsApp user and you have a list of woman contacts then hackers will test your personal with the help of this tracker application and make your status visible for them too. It leads to insert their opinion while you are messaging for the others.
List of possible threats in WhatsApp application
While studying more on his research, it has listed possible issues on WhatsApp application such as:
- If you are using WhatsApp for the activities like chatting with your girlfriend and sharing your pictures with her will be noticed by the hacker with the help of identifying your online presence at any time. Suppose if the hacker is looking for your original identity, then he will expect anything from you and your girlfriend. It is also knowns as a spying method in the internet world.
- On the other hand, you are messaging someone on your contact and your intention is not to affect them by chatting. Here, you know that you are a good person, but hackers won’t consider anything and they will always monitor you as a bad person while chatting.
- When your children using android phones, they might say the truth at what time they are using their mobile phones. Tracker application will check its truth by showing its last existence. Even WhatsApp also showing such information on every user’s account.
The biggest issue in the WhatsApp application
You are going to share some reliable information about your personal life with your friend on the WhatsApp application. So, it should be sent to the receiver with the help of a strong encryption technique. WhatsApp doesn’t show any lagging on this technology, but it has drawbacks in its implementation. You can hide your presence with others by using advanced settings, but it won’t change its functionality on showing the last usage. Even though it is developed for one-to-one and one-to-many communications, it has a particular mistake called the “online presence function” that will help to find the current and last seen of them.
Temporary solution for this issue
In WhatsApp, we can block, hide or delete someone on your contact if you are not interested, but hiding options in WhatsApp is not a permanent solution to overcome the security threats. It’s just a temporary choice for hiding your progress. Some coders said, if we write a code to track your presence on WhatsApp, it will be easy to get your last presence with the help of WhatsApp functionality called “online presence”. In the digital world, anyone will steal your information with advanced technology. Also, we can notice that without the usage of third-party applications, anyone can monitor your presence at any time.
Managing director of Cybersecurity Mr. Eva says, WhatsApp applications should provide additional security features to save their user’s identity around the world. A user should have the authority to decide their presence in WhatsApp, so the WhatsApp company should consider this as an important issue without negotiation.
