New flaw in WhatsApp lets hackers change content, sender of messages

Researchers have discovered a new flaw in WhatsApp where hackers will be able to alter both the content and the identity of the sender of the message once received.

A cybersecurity company named Check Point Software Technologies discovered that it is possible for hackers to create a hacked version of WhatsApp and change quoted messages, the feature that lets user display a past message and reply to it, to make it appear the sender said something they didn’t, reported The New York Times.

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The Facebook-owned app informed the newspaper that it was possible for someone to manipulate the quote feature, but it isn’t a flaw. It said that a solution to it would only worsen the problem. WhatsApp also stated that the ability to change quoted messages in similar to altering an email to change its content. Verifying each message would create privacy issues or slow down the app too much, reported CNET.

The company assured that it worked in order to find and remove anyone using a fake WhatsApp app to spoof the service. However, both the companies said they had not seen regular users creating fake quote messages in chat till now.

The company said, “One solution would be to create transcripts of ever message exchange to verify the accuracy of every quote, creating such a transcript is a significant privacy risk because those accounts of what people wrote to each other must be stored somewhere.”