An attack carried out on WhatsApp allows hackers to appear as a friend in the application and gain access to the user account.
If the hacker achieves this, he can use it to attack other people, which means that this cyber attack not only harms the victim, but also her contacts, in a "chain" manner.
Protecting yourself from this attack is quite simple: Never give out the six-digit "verification code" that WhatsApp will send you when someone tries to log in to your account.
For more security, enable "two-factor authentication" to be even more protected against any kind of attack.
"Theft" begins when an attacker gains access to a WhatsApp account / number that has you (your number) as your contact. The attacker will then send you messages, which seem to come from that person and at first glance, are very normal.
At the same time, however, you may receive a text containing the six-digit code that WhatsApp asks you to enter whenever you try to log in or make changes to an account.
This is happening because the attacker is secretly trying to turn all the people in the contact list of the first victim into a whatsApp business account.
The two parts of the attack then merge: the person claiming to be your friend will tell you that the code that came to your account came to you by mistake and that he needs it. So he will ask you to help him by sending him the code.
If you do this, the attack is successful, as the person gains access to your account and you lose it. At that point, your account will become another way for the hacker to gain access to more accounts, as your friends receive messages that appear to be from you.
It is never advisable to give someone a six-digit code under any circumstances, although the nature of the hack may make the message appear innocent because it is supposed to come from a friend. This detail also makes the attack potentially harmful.
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Source: The Independent
