The latest WhatsApp data leak has reportedly affected as many as 80 countries, including Russia, Italy, Egypt, Brazil, Spain, and more. The list also includes India.
Threat actor claims there are over 32 million US user records included.
Another huge chunk of phone numbers belongs to the citizens of Egypt (45 million), Italy (35 million), Saudi Arabia (29 million), France (20 million), and Turkey (20 million
The threat actor told Cybernews they were selling the US dataset for $7,000, the UK – $2,500, and Germany – $2,000.
The data set also allegedly contained nearly 10 million Russian and more than 11 million phone numbers of British citizens. About 2.9 million numbers of active WhatsApp users in Hong Kong were also included, according to the report.
Meta is yet to comment on this issue and how they handle their users’ data. The WhatsApp parent company will need to improve its security practices to protect user data. More information on this and a possible statement from Meta might be available in the coming weeks.
Cybernews said the seller had shared with it sample data involving 1,097 numbers from the Britain and 817 from the United States.
Cybernews said To prevent personal data leaks, regular users should adopt common data security practices. This includes using a high-quality VPN and getting a reliable antivirus program. And since the shopping holidays are close, you can already find great market-leading NordVPN Black Friday and TotalAV deals.
If WhatsApp users suspected that their personal information had been compromised, they could contact the company or the office for inquiries, it added.
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