WhatsApp vulnerability opens your chat logs to hackers

If you use WhatsApp on an Android phone, you should be careful about what you talk about or share on the instant messaging app. Using a few scripts and a rogue app, anyone can peer into your chat logs and see what you talk about with your friends. A Dutch security consultant has found that WhatsApp chat logs saved on the SD card of an Android phone can be read by other apps because of the way Android allows sharing of data between apps.

A security consultant has found a way for Android developers and for hackers to access WhatsApp chat logs under a set of circumstances involving SD storage of the chat program’s backup database. Developers who need access to large storage on a device or request complete access would be able to see the database once given permission through an app, while a hacker would be able to access the database using malicious software through the same channel. Bas Bosschert uncovered the workaround after a conversation with his brother about the possibility of uploading and reading the chat logs from another Android application.