UK Officials Receive Security Advice After WhatsApp Hacking Reports - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2021) The UK Government Security Group has issued new safety advice to government officials concerning communication on their devices after reports of phishing attacks on WhatsApp, the Guardian reported on Friday.

In his response to a letter from Angela Rayner, the Labour shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, which criticized the country's ministers for using WhatsApp and private email, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed that the National Cyber Security Center and the Government Security Group in the Cabinet Office issued guidance regarding specific threats. The guidance is said to have been issued in May.

"For example, the Government Security Group recently provided advice on how to secure devices using two-factor authentication in response to hackers using fake messages to access WhatsApp," Case said, as quoted by the newspaper.

The UK news outlet noted that hackers had been using WhatsApp to target government officials across the globe, citing successful cyberattacks against Australian, Dutch and South African ministers.

In May, media reported on a WhatsApp scam which involved criminals tricking users into giving them a verification code, thus allowing hackers to steal their accounts.

The importance of politicians preventing their personal devices from being hacked has increased in salience in the wake of revelations about the Israeli spyware Pegasus, which was allegedly used to spy on 50,000 targets, including at least 600 politicians, 180 journalists, 85 human rights activists, and 65 business people.