Tag: WhatsApp
WhatsApp: Here’s a List of New Features Introduced and Spotted in 2017
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world, used by over 1.2 billion people worldwide and 200 million in India alone. Despite its success, the Facebook-owned company has not become complacent and always keeps the competition on its toes by releasing new features every few weeks. 2017, of course, saw the overhauled WhatsApp Status (an aping of Snapchat), but there have been many other small updates this year that didn’t get as much attention. From increased media sharing limit to video streaming, we take a look at all the new WhatsApp features released this year alone. While going down this memory lane, we’ve ranked features in the order that we feel made the most impact (or will make, if in beta) in user experience.
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WhatsApp’s Standalone Business App set for Launch Soon
San Francisco: As businesses widely use WhatsApp to communicate with their customers, particularly in Asia, the Facebook-owned service appears all set to launch a brand new app for them.
In a new FAQ published on its site, WhatsApp has revealed more details about the upcoming Business accounts like how to identify verified Business accounts from non-verified ones.
“While chatting with businesses, you can check your contact`s profile to see which type of account they`re using. A verified account has a green checkmark badge in its profile,” WhatsApp wrote in the FAQ.
A Business account with a green checkmark badge in its profile is verified as acean authentic brand” by WhatsApp.
“A business account with a gray question mark badge in its profile means the account is using the WhatsApp Business app but hasn`t been confirmed nor verified by WhatsApp,” the company said.
The much talked-about WhatsApp for business app is currently being tested by a private group of testers and the company will introduce it as `WhatsApp Business` — a standalone app.
Its description available on Play Store read: “As a test partner for `WhatsApp Business`, you have early access to a wide range of new features that we`ve built with you in mind. As you experiment with what this new app has to offer, please share your experiences with us so that we can improve the product.”
WhatsApp Business is different from the regular WhatsApp.
The logo of the app has been changed from the calling symbol to “B” inside the green conversation bubble.
However, after downloading, the app looks the same as WhatsApp, barring the title bar that says WhatsApp Business.
The app has interesting features such as auto responses, creating a business profile, chat migration and analytics.
“We also provide you with the tools you need to control your experience with businesses. You can block business accounts and report them as spam at any time, right within the chat,” WhatsApp said in the new FAQ.
Before launching the stand-alone Business app, the new FAQ, first spotted by the fan website WABetaInfo, aims to clear doubts so that no such fake app gets downloaded.
A fake and possibly malicious version of Facebook-owned WhatsApp was found lurking on Google Play Store recently as “Update WhatsApp Messenger” with developer name as WhatsApp Inc, which was downloaded by several people.
Wi-Fi + Malware = Surveillance Dealers’ Answer To Spying On WhatsApp
For the general smartphone user, there was some good news from Milipol, one of the world’s biggest homeland security conferences that took place in Paris late November: WhatsApp and Signal are incredibly difficult to snoop on. Amongst the bleeding-edge surveillance vendors who spoke with Forbes, there was a consensus that the only truly effective way to get access to end-to-end encrypted messages was to install malware on targets’ smartphones. And, they added, one of the best ways to do that was to force targets to join rogue Wi-Fi hotspots before launching attacks.
Otherwise, it’s not so easy, even for the smartest current and former spies flogging their tools at the Parc Des Expositions. Snooping on WhatsApp requires either an attack on the app itself or a hack of the mobile device, typically by exploiting vulnerabilities unknown to everyone apart from the hacker, known in the industry as zero-days. They can be costly, more than $1 million for the likes of Apple’s iPhones.
Wi-Fi is the way in
To get around those hurdles, there are various delivery mechanisms for malware (Trojan appeared to be the more acceptable term on the Milipol show floor) to be silently installed on the device. Many are now looking to Wi-Fi as the way in: setting up interception hotspots ,detecting devices of interest, forcing them to join their network and then launching attacks from there.
Some are offering an astonishing array of features on top of the basic Wi-Fi attacks. Take Almenta, a firm based in Bulgaria, but whose operators, including CEO Ari Covitz, are Israeli. A brochure detailed one product, the WiNA-P, from which a range of attacks could be launched at a target. For instance, Almenta offered packages to deliver payloads on Android and iOS devices, promising “data extraction” for Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Skype messages.
The company also offered phishing capabilities, setting up fake landing pages to trick people into handing over their usernames and passwords for the likes of Facebook and Google. An “Account Grabber” feature appeared to determine what iCloud or Android account belonged to a target by sending them “random messages.” Almenta, which also has an office in Philadelphia, P.A., claimed it’s possible to do all this from up to 500 meters away with as many as 50 concurrent targets.
Forbes contacted Almenta chief Ari Covitz to ask about the technology’s capabilities, but he didn’t respond. Two sources claimed Almenta’s Wi-Fi tech wasn’t its own but that of others from the Israeli surveillance scene, including WiSpear, a firm founded by long-time interception specialist Tal Dilian, and Jenovice, a WiSpear rival. Sources with knowledge of both companies, who would only speak anonymously as they weren’t authorized to speak on record, claimed the range of the Wi-Fi attacks could extend to 1km with powerful amplifiers. One of the sources said the cost for such tech starts at $1 million, rising to around $3 million.
WiSpear was slightly more modest in its claims than Almenta. It showcased similar “man-in-the-middle” snooping techniques, relying on others to supply the requisite exploits and Trojans. A spokesperson gave Forbesa brief presentation on WiSpear’s man-in-the-middle attacks, showing maps of real attacks the company had tried out in tests, most carried out from a distance of up to 200 metres. Simple obstacles, whether trees or buildings, could limit attacks, which required a consistent connection to complete the process of installing spy tools on a cellphone via Wi-Fi.
Further hinting that Wi-Fi is currently the best way to start spying on encrypted communications, a range of other firms were selling competing technology, including another two from Israel in the form of Rayzone and Wintego (previously featured in Forbes hacking WhatsApp from backpacks).
There were only a handful of vendors at Milipol who actually produced the Trojans. One is the $1 billion-valued Israeli firm NSO Group, though here it’s under another name: Q Cyber Technologies. Its technology has been seen in Mexico and the UAE, though in both cases it came under fire for allegedly providing governments with tools to spy on activists, lawyers and journalists. (NSO previously told Forbes in response to the criticism in Mexico it was disturbed at the thought its technologies could be used for purposes other than catching the most dangerous of criminals. It didn’t specify what actions it would take to prevent misuse in those countries, if it found any).
Another is Hacking Team, the Italian company that was itself hacked in 2015. Neither that firm nor Q had anyone available to speak to Forbes at the conference.
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Vaibhav S 