WhatsApp is the latest social app to take a page from Snapchat.
The Facebook-owned app is rumored to be testing self-destructing messages for both individual and group chats.
Leaked screenshots from within WhatsApp show the ability to set timers for messages, however users only have two choices at the moment – five minutes or one hour.
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Leaked screenshots from within WhatsApp show the ability to set timers for messages, however users only have two choices at the moment – five minutes or one hour
The claims were posted online by Damien Wilde with 9to5Google, who received the news from WABetaInfo.
The feature, if real, is still in beta stages, but is set let users choose how long they want a message visible to recipients.
However, it appears that users may not be able to pick and choose messages, but only delete chats within a thread, according to the leaked screenshots.
And there are only two time options to choose from – five minutes or one hour.
The feature is still in beta, so the functionality of this self-destructing feature may develop overtime.
The feature, if real, is still in beta stages, but is set let users choose how long they want a message visible to recipients. However, it appears that users may not be able to pick and choose messages, but only delete chats within a thread, according to the leaked screenshots
A glitch was found in August of this year that also altered messages, but gave the power to hackers, according to a discovery made by cybersecurity researchers.
Attackers using the flaw could alter text from quoted messages and manipulate the thread of a conversation, experts claim.
They could even make it look as if the sender said something they didn’t say, by putting a different name above the comments made.
A glitch was found in August of this year that also altered messages, but gave the power to hackers, according to a discovery made by cybersecurity researchers. Attackers using the flaw could alter text from quoted messages and manipulate the thread of a conversation
Israeli-based cybersecurity firm Check Point Research (CPR), who uncovered the flaw, warned that ‘malicious actors’ may use the glitch to spread misinformation and fake news.
Their team detailed the hack at the Black Hat cyber-security conference in Las Vegas, attended by other experts who also uncover vulnerabilities in popular software.
CPR screened a video which illustrated how easily a message can be doctored.
They claim Facebook bosses were made aware of the issue last year, but are yet to resolve it.
In a written statement on CPR’s site, the company said: ‘Towards the end of 2018, Check Point Research notified WhatsApp about new vulnerabilities in the popular messaging application that would enable threat actors to intercept and manipulate messages sent in both private and group conversations, giving attackers the power to create and spread misinformation from what appear to be trusted sources.
‘We believe these vulnerabilities to be of the utmost importance and require attention.’
Before: Here, the team at Check Point Research illustrate the glitch by depicting a conversation between an employee and their manager
After: Here, the message from the boss has been doctored – a clear example of how ‘malicious actors’ can use the flaw to spread misinformation and fake news
Fake views: The glitch also allows people to send themselves messages on behalf of someone else, effectively creating what appears to be a two-way conversation
WhatsApp says it doesn’t recognise the glitch as a flaw in its software but it did fix another error, which allowed people to send a private message to another group participant, disguised as a public message.
‘We carefully reviewed this issue a year ago and it is false to suggest there is a vulnerability with the security we provide on WhatsApp,’ a spokesperson told Forbes.
‘The scenario described here is merely the mobile equivalent of altering replies in an email thread to make it look like something a person didn’t write.
‘We need to be mindful that addressing concerns raised by these researchers could make WhatsApp less private, such as storing information about the origin of messages.’
MailOnline contacted representative for Facebook – the company that owns WhatsApp comment, but they are yet to respond.
Details of the flaw are published on the Check Point Research site.
