WhatsApp users may need to take extra steps to protect their account information following a potentially concerning discovery. A study by researchers at the University of Vienna revealed the app’s contact-discovery system enabled the collection of extensive WhatsApp user data at an unprecedented scale due to insufficient rate-limiting across global endpoints.
The researchers were able to gather huge amounts of phone numbers, public profile photos, account status text, business tags, and information tied to end-to-end encryption keys.
Read more…
Source: TechRadar News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed
February 20, 2026
Researchers investigating Discord’s age-verification checks say they discovered an exposed frontend belonging to Persona, the identity-verification vendor used by Discord. It revealed a far more expansive surveillance and financial intelligence stack than a simple “teen safety” tool. A short while ago we reported that Discord will limit profiles to teen-appropriate mode until you verify your age. ...
- ShinyHunters demands $1.5M not to leak Vegas casino and resort chain data
February 20, 2026
Las Vegas hotel and casino giant Wynn Resorts appears to be the latest victim of data-grabbing and extortion gang ShinyHunters. On Friday, the cybercrime crew listed the hospitality company on its blog, claiming to have stolen more than 800,000 records containing employees’ Social Security numbers and other private details. The extortionists set a February 23 deadline ...
- Data breach at fintech giant Figure affects close to a million customers
February 18, 2026
The data breach that hit blockchain-based lending giant Figure affected nearly a million customers, according to a security researcher. Last week, Figure confirmed a data breach allowed hackers to steal “a limited number of files” from its systems. The company did not provide specifics on what kind of data was stolen nor say how many customers ...
- Data leak at Abu Dhabi finance summit exposes global figures
February 18, 2026
Former British prime minister David Cameron and hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard were among the hundreds whose passports and other identification papers were leaked online after they attended an Abu Dhabi conference, the Financial Times reported on Feb 17. The FT, citing documents, said scans of more than 700 passports and state identity cards were discovered ...
- EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears
February 16, 2026
he European Parliament has disabled AI features on the work devices of lawmakers and their staff over cybersecurity and data protection concerns, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. The chamber emailed its members on Monday to say it had disabled “built-in artificial intelligence features” on corporate tablets after its IT department assessed it couldn’t ...
- Major telco breach sees 6.2 million users have personal info leaked
February 13, 2026
Dutch telecommunications company Odido has confirmed suffering a cyberattack and losing sensitive data on millions of people. In a notice published on its website, the company says it “deeply regrets” the situation and is “fully committed” to limiting its impact. “Based on investigation, the incident concerns personal data from a customer contact system used by Odido,” ...