Information security expert Walid Abdul-Maqsoud commented on the news published on the Cybernews website regarding the leakage of mobile phone number data from the WhatsApp application for about 34 million Egyptians.
He said that the data was offered for sale, as part of the leakage of data for about 400 million users around the world.
During a telephone interview with the “Al-Hayat” channel, on Tuesday, Abdul-Maqsoud said the news of the leak was published in a forum on the Dark Web network, through an employee of one of the companies he contracted through a third party.
He added that WhatsApp began showing messages a year ago, in which it says that “it will obtain all user information and it will be exported to (a third party)”, which are the companies contracting with the Meta company that owns the application, to obtain data, for use in commercial purposes.
The information security expert confirmed that “the leak, which was announced on the Cybernews website, was made by the third party, which is one of the companies that has the right to access user data.”
Abdul-Maqsoud warned WhatsApp users against the emergence of links with pseudonymous company names that wll hack accounts, if they click and enter these links.,
“Some people on the dark web will start trying to resell the leaked numbers for commercial purposes, in addition to the possibility of exploiting them for security purposes.”
Abdul-Maqsoud advised WhatsApp users to enter the App Store or Play Store to update the application, stressing the need to block suspicious numbers, especially numbers that start with +1.
