Beware! Your WhatsApp account may be vulnerable to hackers; Here's why

WhatsApp users should never take privacy of their data for granted. Many of the popular messaging app users have not yet responded to the upgrade call given by the company, which may leave their WhatsApp account vulnerable to hackers, according to a report. 

Most people have not yet patched the serious WhatsApp vulnerability,  warned Mobile security specialist Wandera, silicon.co.uk reported. It said that Android users have responded quicker,  a majority of the Apple smartphone users have yet to upgrade their version of WhatsApp. 

A major portion of Android smartphone users are still running the unpatched WhatsApp version, the report said. WhatsApp released the software fix last weekend after it discovered the vulnerability. 

Malicious code automatically infects a device when attackers rang up a target’s phone even if the call was not answered, WhatsApp said in a technical document on the issue. WhatsApp had urged its 1.5 billion users to update their software to fix a vulnerability. However, WhatsApp users have not taken it seriously.

The report said that unpatched versions of WhatsApp will remain unsecure until the patch is applied. This is despite the fact that WhatsApp switched on end-to-end encryption in 2016. The attack may involve buffer overflow vulnerability in WhatsApp’s voice over internet protocol (VoIP), the messaging app said.