WhatsApp links that lead to closed groups can be found with a simple Google search — a major security flaw revealed by DW last week. Following social media outrage, the links were removed from Google’s search results.
Despite the removal, however, publicly-available internet archives are still storing the information, as security researcher Lav Kumar has found out. He gathered and organized over 60,000 unique links, which can still be found on multiple websites.
Of the 1,000 randomly selected links DW tested, 427 were active chat links. Even without actively joining a group, its title, description, image and creator's phone number are available for all.
However, upon entering a group, it is possible to also see the phone numbers of up to 256 participants, as well as other information, and adding these numbers to one's contacts can reveal their names in the app.
Using this information, DW gained access to a group described as "Ministry of finance civil servants" in Indonesia, revealing the phone numbers of all 14 members. Several other groups appeared to be official support groups for the campaign of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Among the 427 active links DW examined, there were groups described to be for school classes, medical trainees, political campaigns, businesses, pornography and sex workers. Some groups included members with particularly sensitive identities, such as one chat with hundreds of members clearly labeled as an LGBTQ+ group in a Latin American country with high rates of homophobic murders.
Read more at: WhatsApp security flaw: Over 60,000 groups still accessible online | News | DW | 26.02.2020
Despite the removal, however, publicly-available internet archives are still storing the information, as security researcher Lav Kumar has found out. He gathered and organized over 60,000 unique links, which can still be found on multiple websites.
Of the 1,000 randomly selected links DW tested, 427 were active chat links. Even without actively joining a group, its title, description, image and creator's phone number are available for all.
However, upon entering a group, it is possible to also see the phone numbers of up to 256 participants, as well as other information, and adding these numbers to one's contacts can reveal their names in the app.
Using this information, DW gained access to a group described as "Ministry of finance civil servants" in Indonesia, revealing the phone numbers of all 14 members. Several other groups appeared to be official support groups for the campaign of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Among the 427 active links DW examined, there were groups described to be for school classes, medical trainees, political campaigns, businesses, pornography and sex workers. Some groups included members with particularly sensitive identities, such as one chat with hundreds of members clearly labeled as an LGBTQ+ group in a Latin American country with high rates of homophobic murders.
Read more at: WhatsApp security flaw: Over 60,000 groups still accessible online | News | DW | 26.02.2020
No comments:
Post a Comment