Why Whatsapp is a security risk

Yes Whatsapp has end2end encryption for messages, but whatsapp was never build as an secure communication app. Many top 10 secure encrypted messaging lists feature whatsapp on it, deceiving people to belief using whatsapp is one of the best and secure options these days. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

Whatsapp never was build as an secure or security app, its vulnerability is not in its messages but in the app itself.

To give a few examples to prove the point, in 2019 may, a vulnerability in the messaging app WhatsApp has allowed attackers to inject commercial Israeli spyware on to phones, the company and a spyware technology dealer said. All that was needed was a whatsapp call to infect you, you did not even have to pickup. This means a successful hacker can hijack the application to run malicious code that pores over encrypted chats, eavesdrops on calls, turns on the microphone and camera, accesses photos, contacts, and other information on a handheld, and potentially further compromises the device. Call logs can be altered, too, to hide the method of infection.

In 2019 October, critical vulnerability was discovered that allows hackers to gain access to your chat logs and personal information by sending you a poisoned GIF. So sending a GIF could hack your whatsapp and expose your privacy.

In 2022 September, WhatsApp is going public with a major security vulnerability fix that enabled attackers to plant malware while making video calls. The development was dubbed critical in terms of security and was drastically affecting the app that was carrying out the tasks on a remote basis through victims’ smart devices. 

These are merely some examples, how your phone, your privacy, your security is vulnerable by whatsapp, using video, a gif file, a whatsapp call.

It is a shame whatsapp is promoted as an secure communication app while the opposite is true.
Anyone from journalists, activists, human rights defenders, to the average readers who just wants to protect his privacy which is an human right, should consider alternatives that can keep you and your information safe, not only from state actors, but also from hackers and even organized crime.