Kaspersky Researcher Reveals Dangers Of WhatsApp's New Group Calling Feature

Whatsapp Group calls, vulnerable to eavesdropping. (photo: Raj Rana / Unsplash )

JAKARTA - WhatsApp is the most popular messenger in the world, with billions of registered users to date. The Facebook-owned app offers powerful functionality by providing multiple ways to communicate.

For example, group calls of up to eight people proved very popular during periods of self-isolation and social lockdown. Not only for WhatsApp, but also other messaging systems.

Previously, every time we made a WhatsApp group call, participants who couldn't join at the beginning would not be able to connect later, but now it's different.

The developer has added the ability with participants to be able to join the ongoing conversation. Previously, the same functionality was also available in the Microsoft Teams enterprise messenger app.

However, according to Kaspersky's Lead Security Researcher, Victor Chebyshev, who looks at it from a security point of view, the ability to join ongoing calls can increase the risk of eavesdropping.

"In general, if the attackers are in a WhatsApp group, it will not be difficult for them to connect to the call. The attackers just have to wait until most of the participants have joined and then hope they can participate without being noticed," Chebyshev said in an official statement, Friday. July 22.

"Attackers also don't have to sit too long waiting for the call to start, as they can connect at any time."

Chebyshev added, it should be noted that group members, especially admins can track participants and ensure that outsiders don't join. In addition, the messenger application itself guarantees the privacy of data exchange in groups through the use of end-to-end encryption.

"Thus, neither the app itself, nor the people trying to launch a man-in-the-middle attack, will be able to intercept any correspondence or group calls, including group calls," Chebyshev said.

To date, most of the malicious software has focused on eavesdropping on WhatsApp messages and archived online dialogues, and Kaspersky itself has not come across any cases of wiretapping of any calls, especially group calls.

"Nevertheless, if the device is infected, it is very likely that the Trojan will have the ability to record the microphone and camera on the device, thus allowing the attacker to eavesdrop on any conversation, regardless of the communication channel used, be it instant messenger or regular phone calls," Chebyshev explained.