Facebook just fixed a bug that allowed hackers to snoop around your Messenger calls
The last thing everyone wants in today’s digital age is to allow anyone to snoop around your calls and listen to what you are talking about. But it looks like Facebook Messenger already let hackers do this until recently, when it fixed the particular bug. The bug, which was discovered by Google Project Zero researcher Natalie Silvanovich last month, is said to have affected only Android Messenger users. It does not affect the security of iOS users.
All the hacker has to do is make a call and send a unique “invisible” message, which allows them to connect to your audio. The worst part is that they might do it even if you didn’t answer the call. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. It is said that the vulnerability requires specific tools and that not everyone can remove it.
It was explained that both the attacker and the victim must log into Messenger for Android and the victim must also be logged into Messenger through a web browser for the hack to take place. And on top of all that, the attacker would need permission to call the victim, which means he must be on the victim’s friend list for it.
Silvanovich added that similar bugs have been found in other communication apps like Signal, Mocha, and JioChat. This has all been fixed now.
The news comes days after the company unveiled disappear mode in Messenger. The feature was announced almost a week ago and also arrived on Instagram yesterday. This, as the name suggests, deletes the particular post or multiple posts once you leave the thread.
