Facebook acquires mobile phone application WhatsApp for a record Sh1.6 trillion. /FILE

WhatsApp users beware: Bank details now being stolen via links sent to you

WhatsApp, one of the largest social network and messaging application with over a billion users is under threat from hackers.

Hackers have started to steal people’s bank details by sending files over the messaging service WhatsApp.

The hackers seem to have started in India where, they are sending the messages disguised as messages from official government organizations.

So far the cyber criminals have only targeted WhatsApp users in India with a possibility of the hackers replicating this to other countries.

The virus has been disguised as a Microsoft Excel files and once you open the documents, they can gather sensitive information from users, including online banking details for those who use online banking systems.

The two files are–’NDA-ranked-8th-toughest-College-in-the-world-to-get-into.xls’ and ‘NIA-selection-order-.xls’.

These are designed to look like they have come from the Indian National Defence Academy (NDA) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Both messages are designed to look like they are from the Indian National Defense Academy (NDA) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

As a problem that faces many online users, you should avoid clicking on links mostly referral links sent to you.

Clicking on a link is you telling the computer, where your phone is one just that it is specialized, I accept whatever this is and will go wherever this link takes me in which 99 percent you also do not know.

The result is that you could download malware, a virus, or rootkit into your machine that allows it to be taken over by a hacker.

It becomes part of a bot or botnet which in simpler terms is that your computer and its contents belong to someone else.

You have given them power to do whatever they want.

Sometimes, you may never even know this is happening. Some malware is designed to run ‘in the background’ meaning it’s doing things silently and secretly.

If you should click on link you believe or discover has delivered malware on your system you need to do an immediate scan using your up-to-date anti-virus program.

This way, you might save yourself some agony in this new age of technology.

Source: The Star