Your WhatsApp Media Files Aren’t Secure After Reaching Your Phone

Even highly secured messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp may not be as secure as you think because they can't always keep your files safe after reaching your phone. Symantec researchers recently explained how hackers could alter media files sent via these services, using a malicious app.

On Android devices, apps are able to choose to save audio files, images, and other media files, via external or internal storage. While WhatsApp saves its media in external storage by default, Telegram asks users permission to “Save to Gallery.”

The design, as explained by the researchers, means that malware able to access external storage could be used to access media files on Tegelram and WhatsApp, even before users see them. Theoretically, the multimedia message, thereby, is vulnerable to be altered by a hacker.

The attack is named “Media File Jacking,” and the issue is not new and users have to choose between accessibility and privacy. The widely used external storage makes apps more compatible with other apps, which means users can freely transfer images as well as other data. However, there's a price for it, which was pointed out in 2018 by researchers.

Confronting the crisis, Telegram stated no explanation so far. WhatsApp, on the other hand, clarified that the change in the storage system will cause limitations for users in sharing media files through its service and there could be even more privacy issues.