WhatsApp users are being warned of a dangerous new hack which could let anyone hijack their account while they're sleeping.
Cybersecurity experts have spotted a simple flaw in WhatsApp's account recovery process which is reportedly being misused by cybercriminals to take over people's accounts and send scam and spam texts to their contacts.
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'Zuk', of the Twitter page '@ihackbanme', outlined the WhatsApp hack like so: "You're sleeping. A 'hacker' tries to login to your account via WhatsApp. You get a text message with a pincode that says 'do not share this'. You don't share it, yet you still get hacked."
He explained that the attacker is able to click on an option via the login page which claims that the verification text didn't arrive. WhatsApp then leaves a voicemail with the log in code.
To get the code, all someone has to do is access your voicemail using a default pin code from your mobile network, listen to the verification code, then use it to log into your WhatsApp.
After that, the 'attacker' can create their own two factor authentication on your WhatsApp account and lock you out while they spread viruses to your contacts.
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Zuk said that to avoid this exploit, you have to "make sure that your voicemail pincode is not the default pincode" and to set up two factor authentication on your WhatsApp.
The reason it only works when you're asleep is that this is the time that most people have phone notifications turned off, so it relies upon you not picking up the phone and the authentication code going straight to your voicemail.
To set up two-factor authentication on WhatsApp, you just have go to the app's settings, then tap 'Account' and 'Two-step verification'.
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