{"id":5600,"date":"2026-02-07T13:05:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=5600"},"modified":"2026-02-07T13:05:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:05:36","slug":"whatsapp-users-urged-to-change-one-setting-after-hacking-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/?p=5600","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp users urged to change one setting after hacking bug"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

WhatsApp<\/a>\u00a0users are being urged to change their settings after hackers were able to\u00a0access personal data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A flaw was discovered by Google\u2019s Project Zero team which allowed people to send malicious files directly to\u00a0phones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The hackers were setting up\u00a0fake group chats<\/a>\u00a0and then inviting random users to join.<\/p>\n

If the invitation was accepted, the infected files were downloaded without anyone realising.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The files were then used maliciously to access personal data from people\u2019s devices.<\/p>\n

Now\u00a0users\u00a0<\/a>have been told to disable automatic downloads to\u00a0keep themselves protected.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"A<\/div>
A flaw was discovered by Google\u2019s Project Zero team which allowed people to send malicious files directly to phones (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although WhatAspp had pushed out a fix to block new infections, it is unclear how many people were affected by the hack.<\/p>\n

But turning off automatic downloads will prevent it happening in the future, Malwarebytes said.<\/p>\n

Uncheck all media types, and then press OK.<\/p>\n

This means no pictures, files, video or any other type of media will be automatically downloaded.<\/p>\n

To turn it off, open WhatApp and tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.<\/p>\n

Click settings, head to storage and data and click media auto-download.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  WhatsApp\u00a0users are being urged to change their settings after hackers were able to\u00a0access personal data. A flaw was discovered by Google\u2019s Project Zero team which allowed people to send malicious files directly to\u00a0phones. The hackers were setting up\u00a0fake group chats\u00a0and then inviting random users to join. If the invitation was accepted, the infected files […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t