UC Berkeley researcher exposes WhatsApp security flaw
Just send me an owl instead
WhatsApp, the messaging service famous for its international texting capabilities and praised for its privacy, might not be as secure as advertised.
Tobias Boelter, a cryptology researcher at the University of California, Berkeley has uncovered a security flaw that could potentially allow Facebook, government agencies, hackers, and even WhatsApp itself to view your messages.
This means that everything from that quick text to your mom to the steamy exchange with that dude from the club last night could be fair game. And that might not be the worst of it.
‘It now appears there has been a host of information available to anyone with the know how to get hold of it, we can only ponder as to whether any breaches have taken place and if they have what levels of sensitive data have been taken.
‘Furthermore, the advent and soaring popularity of WhatsApp desktop, now means millions of employees actually use the software on company devices, providing a potentially open gate to highly sensitive company servers and information.’
Yikes! Hopefully they come up with a fix, and fast. In the meantime, you might want to use another service for your more private correspondence.