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WhatsApp Hack Attack Puts 200,000 at Risk

Up to 200,000 users of WhatsApp's web-based service may have been hit in a cyberattack that let hackers compromise personal data using just their phone number, NBC News reported.

According to Checkpoint, a security firm that originally found the vulnerability, Hackers were sending so called vCards, electronic contact cards, to random phone numbers they had obtained.

The vCard sent by the hackers contained a malicious code that would distribute bots, ransomware and remote access tools (RATs) on a person's phone or PC.

Bots can slow down a person's system, ransomware makes people pay money to regain access to their own data, while RATs allows hackers to remotely access a device. Checkpoint said that the WhatsApp web vulnerability was easily exploited and "no hacking tools" were necessary.

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