The hack into the account of the country’s top security official has drawn criticism online.
Malaysia’s home minister had his WhatsApp account hacked and then abused to send malicious links to his contacts, according to police.
The attacker reportedly used a virtual private network (VPN) to compromise the account of Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, authorities said at a press conference on Friday, adding that no victims have reported financial losses so far. They did not elaborate on how the hack was carried out.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees law enforcement, immigration and censorship, confirmed the incident and urged the public not to respond to any messages or calls claiming to be from the minister, especially those involving financial or personal requests.
The breach is under investigation and law enforcement is working to determine the hacker’s location.
Mobile phishing scams have become increasingly common in Malaysia. Local media have reported that citizens are frequently targeted by fraudsters posing as police, bank officials or court representatives.
The recent WhatsApp incident follows similar attacks on other high-ranking officials. In March, scammers hijacked the WhatsApp account of parliamentary speaker Johari Abdul and tricked some of his contacts into sending money. In 2022, threat actors accessed Telegram and Signal accounts belonging to former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri. And in 2015, hackers took over the Royal Malaysia Police’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, posting pro-Islamic State group messages.
Nasution Ismail faced online criticism and ridicule following the WhatsApp hack, with local media reporting that citizens questioned the strength of Malaysia’s cybersecurity measures, given that the country’s top security official had been successfully targeted by hackers.
Spyware maker NSO Group will have to pay more than $167 million in damages to WhatsApp for a 2019 hacking campaign against more than 1,400 users.
On Tuesday, after a five-year legal battle, a jury ruled that NSO Group must pay $167,254,000 in punitive damages and around $444,719 in compensatory damages.
This is a huge legal win for WhatsApp, which had asked for more than $400,000 in compensatory damages, based on the time its employees had to dedicate to remediate the attacks, investigate them, and push fixes to patch the vulnerability abused by NSO Group, as well as unspecified punitive damages.
WhatsApp’s spokesperson Zade Alsawah said in a statement that “our court case has made history as the first victory against illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone.”
Alsawah said the ruling “is an important step forward for privacy and security as the first victory against the development and use of illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone. Today, the jury’s decision to force NSO, a notorious foreign spyware merchant, to pay damages is a critical deterrent to this malicious industry against their illegal acts aimed at American companies and the privacy and security of the people we serve.”
NSO Group’s spokesperson Gil Lainer left the door open for an appeal.
“We will carefully examine the verdict’s details and pursue appropriate legal remedies, including further proceedings and an appeal,” Lainer said in a statement.
Dass sich Betrüger auf Kleinanzeigenplattformen als Kaufinteressenten ausgeben und vorschlagen, den Kauf über einen angeblichen Paketdienst abzuwickeln, ist eine bereits bekannte Masche. Neu setzen sie jedoch gefälschte Postquittungen ein, um glaubwürdiger zu wirken.
Betrüger suchen gezielt nach Angeboten auf Kleinanzeigenportalen und kontaktieren die Verkäufer zunächst über den Plattform-Chat, später meist via WhatsApp.
Die Cyberkriminellen geben vor, beispielsweise über die Schweizerische Post den Artikel sowie die Lieferung bereits bezahlt zu haben. Dazu schicken sie den potenziellen Opfern ein Foto einer angeblichen Postquittung mit einem QR-Code, der für den Erhalt des Geldes gescannt werden müsse.
Der QR-Code führt zu einer gefälschten Website auf der die Cyberkriminellen vorgeben, der Kaufbetrag werde auf die persönliche Kreditkarte überwiesen. So versuchen sie, an die Kreditkartendaten zu gelangen.
Two spyware variants – Moonshine and BadBazaar – are being used to target the mobile devices of persons of interest to Chinese intelligence, including individuals in the Taiwanese, Tibetan and Uyghur communities.
A bug in WhatsApp for Windows can be exploited to execute malicious code by anyone crafty enough to persuade a user to open a rigged attachment - and, to be fair, it doesn't take much craft to pull that off.
The spoofing flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-30401, affects all versions of WhatsApp Desktop for Windows prior to 2.2450.6, and stems from a bug in how the app handles file attachments.
In mid-November 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed the Russian threat actor we track as Star Blizzard sending their typical targets spear-phishing messages, this time offering the supposed opportunity to join a WhatsApp group. This is the first time we have identified a shift in Star Blizzard’s longstanding tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to leverage a […]
The precedent-setting ruling from a Northern California federal judge could lead to massive damages against NSO Group, whose notorious spyware has been reportedly used by various governments worldwide.
La centrale nucléaire de Gösgen, dans le canton de Soleure, mise sur la technologie des drones pour sa sécurité et l'inspection. Aujourd'hui, la publication involontaire d'images suscite le débat.
Documents reveal how Israel seized files, suppressed information related to WhatsApp’s lawsuit against Pegasus spyware vendor NSO
Deux jeunes Néérlandais ont fait croire à 28 parents suisses que leurs enfants se trouvaient en détresse. Le tribunal de Zurich les a condamnés mardi.
“Yahoo Boy” cybercriminals are openly running dozens of scams across Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.
WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram among apps cut from iPhone app store to comply with censorship demand
À partir du 8 décembre, les membres du gouvernement devront utiliser les applications de messagerie françaises Tchap ou Olvid.
The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant.
Someone is allegedly selling up-to-date mobile phone numbers of nearly 500 million WhatsApp users. A data sample investigated by Cybernews likely confirms this to be true.
The malicious version of YoWhatsApp messenger, containing Triada trojan, was spreading through ads in the popular Snaptube app and the Vidmate app's internal store.
La violazione dell'account WhatsApp di un magistrato della Corte dei Conti ha un effetto domino: hacker hanno accesso a diverse informazioni
BERLIN (AP) — The European Central Bank said Tuesday that its president, Christine Lagarde, was targeted in a hacking attempt but no information was compromised. The attempt took place “recently,” the Frankfurt-based central bank for the 19 countries that use the euro said in an emailed response to a query about a report by Business Insider.
