Now came the fake version of WhatsApp, the Italian company steals information by installing it in iPhone
CyberSpace Research Lab ‘Citizen Lab’ at the University of Toronto teamed up with Motherboard to find the fake version of WhatsApp for the iPhone. It has been developed by Cy4Gate. The case of fake WhatsApp version came to light when security company ZecOps tweeted about the detection of attacks against WhatsApp users.
The news agency reported that a site was found with the config5-dati[.]com domain, which was misleading visitors to install the fake app. This was actually a special configuration file for the iPhone. It was designed to gather information from users and reach hackers.
Fake app look like original
It reported that several clusters were found in the domain associated with the link made public to the site. Some variations of the original URL were also discovered. One of them was config1-dati[.]com, a phishing page for installing the fake version of WhatsApp. From the branding and graphics, it looked very original in appearance. It also explained how to install it.
Researcher Bill Marczak of Citizen Lab reported that the configuration file in the phishing page was allowing the hacker to send devices, including UDID and IMEI, to the detail server. However, the researchers did not find that the file and what data can be taken from the user’s device.
There is also no clear information that the fake version of WhatsApp is related to Cy4Gate, which works with law agencies and government in Italy. However, a set of domains has been found that shared an IP address on the config5-dati[.]com domain. It was also related to some other domains, one of which was registered in “cy4gate srl”. This is why it got its connection with the Italian surveillance company.
To be safe, download the app from the App Store – WhatsApp
WhatsApp said that to be safe, just download WhatsApp from the App Store. It further said that we are strongly opposed to spyware companies and assured to take action against the fake version. Modifying WhatsApp to harm others is a violation of our terms. In addition, we may temporarily ban customers using modified WhatsApp.
