WhatsApp has a broad user base and that attracts a lot of malicious actors. These hackers look to capitalize on the popularity of the instant messaging application by targeting something called mod apps. WhatsApp mod apps aim to give its users some functional benefits that are not present on the standard version of the application. WhatsApp strictly discourages users to download such applications.
These mod applications, while providing additional benefits, lack the robustness in safety and security that is offered by the authentic WhatsApp application. A similar case has been brought forward where a WhatsApp mod app has been found to be sneaking in a trojan virus that can download harmful payloads in the smartphone without the user’s consent.
One of the mods named FMWhatsApp 16.80.0, was spotted with a Trojan Triada virus. Once inside the smartphone, the virus can download further harmful content. Once the mod app is opened, it can gather information about the device such as Device IDs, Subscriber IDs and MAC addresses. This data is then sent to a remote server which can then send a malicious payload to the smartphone. This Trojan Triada virus was spotted by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
According to the Kaspersky report, the virus can enable various unwanted activities on the smartphone which includes full-screen advertisement and even sign up the user for paid subscriptions which can eventually impact the user’s bank balance.
In order to avoid downloading such viruses, the user should not download apps from untrusted sources and even on Google Play Store, users should carefully go through the reviews and keep track of expenditures happening from their bank accounts.
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