Can WhatsApp be hacked in 30 seconds?

Dubai: It can take as little as 30 seconds for an intruder to gain access to a smartphone’s messaging service if the phone is left unattended, experts said at the #Safeupwhatsapp press conference on Sunday.

The Emirates Safer Internet Society (E-SAFE) launched an informative campaign to safeguard users, especially children, from possible intruders who can easily hack the most popular texting platform, Whatsapp, currently used by one billion people worldwide.

E-SAFE Emirati youth champion, Hussain Adel Al Hashemi, provided a live demo at the event, showcasing how users can be tricked by hackers into lending their phones for even less than a minute.

Once an intruder is in contact with a phone, he can access all content on WhatsApp by scanning the phone’s QR code on a computer through the online WhatsApp site. After the QR code is scanned, the intruder can send messages to all contacts and delete messages from contacts on the app, said Al Hashemi.

With statistics showing half of UAE teens spend nearly 10 hours online, the campaign aims to ensure online child protection. It also includes a short awareness video that will be available on social media, and will be shown in schools through future E-SAFE Society programmes.

Some of the programmes in the pipelines include the National Awareness Roadshow, Corporate Parental Education, capacity upgrade of psychosocial professionals, and internationally recognised studies on child online issues from the region, among others.

“In the past, we looked at protecting communication from point A to point B. Now, communication has become more sophisticated and can put our children at risk. In the ‘data world’, we need to educate our children through awareness programmes and give them the tools to be able to overcome these risks,” said Hamed Al Neyadi, CEO of E-SAFE Society.

According to a survey conducted by E-SAFE society to determine the level of security practised by WhatsApp users in the region, 97 per cent of respondents said they use WhatsApp regularly.

The survey found that 88 per cent of WhatsApp users allow immediate family to access their phone unattended, while 22 per cent said they allow friends to go through their phone.

“The survey found that 96 per cent of people in this region would share their mobile phones with family and friends upon request,” said Mohammad Mustafa Saidalavi, founder and chief operating officer of the Society.

He pointed out that eight out of 10 WhatsApp users never log out of WhatsApp Web, an option that allows individuals access to their WhatsApp account from a PC or other web devices. “Staying connected online through WhatsApp Web means you have already been compromised,” added Saidalavi.

E-SAFE Society has also reached out to WhatsApp Inc following the discovery of the potential misuse of the app’s web feature. “We have contacted them to urge the app’s makers to introduce a safety notification feature that informs users whenever their WhatsApp account is accessed from any web service,” said Saidalavi.

Speakers at the conference urged parents to practise “e-positive parenting” to allow easy communication between them and their children. Al Neyadi explained that parents need build a close relationship with their children, so that their children can feel free to talk about any threats they may be facing online. He also pointed out that parents should take part in online education programmes in order to better understand the online environment.

The E-SAFE Society is a UAE-based, non-profit online safety organisation that aims to be a globally recognised hub for child online protection by 2021.