500 mn users, including from India, at risk in WhatsApp data breach: Report

WhatsApp data of nearly half a billion users from 84 countries around the world, including India, could have been breached and put up for sale online, according to a report by Cybernews.

The report said it investigated a data sample — after a post on a “well-known hacking community forum” claimed to be selling an up-to-date database of 487 million WhatsApp users — and found that the claim was likely true, meaning 25% of the total 2 billion monthly active users worldwide could be at risk.

Leaked phone numbers could be used for any number of reasons, including marketing and phishing.