WhatsApp is going through a rough patch. Some users would argue it has been ever since Meta acquired the once widely trusted messaging platform. User sentiment has shifted from “trusted default messenger” to a grudgingly necessary Meta product.

Privacy-aware users still see WhatsApp as one of the more secure mass-market messaging platforms if you lock down its settings. Even then, many remain uneasy about Meta’s broader ecosystem, and wish all their contacts would switch to a more secure platform.

Back to current affairs, which will only reinforce that sentiment.

Google’s Project Zero has just disclosed a WhatsApp vulnerability where a malicious media file, sent into a newly created group chat, can be automatically downloaded and used as an attack vector.

The bug affects WhatsApp on Android and involves zero‑click media downloads in group chats. You can be attacked simply by being added to a group and having a malicious file sent to you.

According to Project Zero, the attack is most likely to be used in targeted campaigns, since the attacker needs to know or guess at least one contact. While focused, it is relatively easy to repeat once an attacker has a likely target list.

And to put a cherry on top for WhatsApp’s competitors, a potentially even more serious concern for the popular messaging platform, an international group of plaintiffs sued Meta Platforms, alleging the WhatsApp owner can store, analyze, and access virtually all of users’ private communications, despite WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption claims.

How to secure WhatsApp

Reportedly, Meta pushed a server change on November 11, 2025, but Google says that only partially resolved the issue. So, Meta is working on a comprehensive fix.

Google’s advice is to disable Automatic Download or enable WhatsApp’s Advanced Privacy Mode so that media is not automatically downloaded to your phone.

And you’ll need to keep WhatsApp updated to get the latest patches, which is true for any app and for Android itself.

Turn off auto-download of media

Goal: ensure that no photos, videos, audio, or documents are pulled to the device without an explicit decision.

• Open WhatsApp on your Android device.
• Tap the three‑dot menu in the top‑right corner, then tap Settings.
• Go to Storage and data (sometimes labeled Data and storage usage).
• Under Media auto-download, you will see When using mobile data, when connected on Wi‑Fi. and when roaming.
• For each of these three entries, tap it and uncheck all media types: Photos, Audio, Videos, Documents. Then tap OK.
• Confirm that each category now shows something like “No media” under it.

Doing this directly implements Project Zero’s guidance to “disable Automatic Download” so that malicious media can’t silently land on your storage as soon as you are dropped into a hostile group.

Stop WhatsApp from saving media to your Android gallery

Even if WhatsApp still downloads some content, you can stop it from leaking into shared storage where other apps and system components see it.

• In Settings, go to Chats.
• Turn off Media visibility (or similar option such as Show media in gallery). For particularly sensitive chats, open the chat, tap the contact or group name, find Media visibility, and set it to No for that thread.

WhatsApp is a sandbox, and should contain the threat. Which means, keeping media inside WhatsApp makes it harder for a malicious file to be processed by other, possibly more vulnerable components.

Lock down who can add you to groups

The attack chain requires the attacker to add you and one of your contacts to a new group. Reducing who can do that lowers risk.

• ​In Settings, tap Privacy.
• Tap Groups.
• Change from Everyone to My contacts or ideally My contacts except… and exclude any numbers you do not fully trust.
• If you use WhatsApp for work, consider keeping group membership strictly to known contacts and approved admins.

Set up two-step verification on your WhatsApp account

Read this guide for Android and iOS to learn how to do that.

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We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.

WhisperPair is a set of attacks that lets an attacker hijack many popular Bluetooth audio accessories that use Google Fast Pair and, in some cases, even track their location via Google’s Find Hub network—all without requiring any user interaction.

Researchers at the Belgian University of Leuven revealed a collection of vulnerabilities they found in audio accessories that use Google’s Fast Pair protocol. The affected accessories are sold by 10 different companies: Sony, Jabra, JBL, Marshall, Xiaomi, Nothing, OnePlus, Soundcore, Logitech, and Google itself.

Google Fast Pair is a feature that makes pairing Bluetooth earbuds, headphones and similar accessories with Android devices quick and seamless, and syncs them across a user’s Google account.

The Google Fast Pair Service (GFPS) utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to discover nearby Bluetooth devices. Many big-name audio brands use Fast Pair in their flagship products, so the potential attack surface consists of hundreds of millions of devices.

The weakness lies in the fact that Fast Pair skips checking whether a device is in pairing mode. As a result, a device controlled by an attacker, such as a laptop, can trigger Fast Pair even when the earbuds are sitting in a user’s ear or pocket, then quickly complete a normal Bluetooth pairing and take full control.

What that control enables depends on the capabilities of the hijacked device. This can range from playing disturbing noises to recording audio via built-in microphones.

It gets worse if the attacker is the first to pair the accessory with an Android device. In that case, the attacker’s Owner Account Key–designating their Google account as the legitimate owner’s—to the accessory. If the Fast Pair accessory also supports Google’s Find Hub network, which many people use to locate lost items, the attacker may then be able to track the accessory’s location.

Google classified this vulnerability, tracked under CVE‑2025‑36911, as critical. However, the only real fix is a firmware or software update from the accessory manufacturer, so users need to check with their specific brand and install accessory updates, as updating the phone alone does not fix the issue.

How to stay safe

To find out whether your device is vulnerable, the researchers published a list and recommend keeping all accessories updated. The research team tested 25 commercial devices from 16 manufacturers using 17 different Bluetooth chipsets. They were able to take over the connection and eavesdrop on the microphone on 68% of the tested devices.​

These are the devices the researchers found to be vulnerable, but it’s possible that others are affected as well:

• Anker soundcore Liberty 4 NC
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2​
• JBL TUNE BEAM​
• Jabra Elite 8 Active​
• Marshall MOTIF II A.N.C.​
• Nothing Ear (a)​
• OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro​
• Sony WF-1000XM5​
• Sony WH-1000XM4​
• Sony WH-1000XM5​
• Sony WH-1000XM6​
• Sony WH-CH720N​
• Xiaomi Redmi Buds 5 Pro​

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We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.

China-based phishing groups blamed for non-stop scam SMS messages about a supposed wayward package or unpaid toll fee are promoting a new offering, just in time for the holiday shopping season: Phishing kits for mass-creating fake but convincing e-commerce websites that convert customer payment card data into mobile wallets from Apple and Google. Experts say these same phishing groups also are now using SMS lures that promise unclaimed tax refunds and mobile rewards points.

Over the past week, thousands of domain names were registered for scam websites that purport to offer T-Mobile customers the opportunity to claim a large number of rewards points. The phishing domains are being promoted by scam messages sent via Apple’s iMessage service or the functionally equivalent RCS messaging service built into Google phones.

The website scanning service urlscan.io shows thousands of these phishing domains have been deployed in just the past few days alone. The phishing websites will only load if the recipient visits with a mobile device, and they ask for the visitor’s name, address, phone number and payment card data to claim the points.

If card data is submitted, the site will then prompt the user to share a one-time code sent via SMS by their financial institution. In reality, the bank is sending the code because the fraudsters have just attempted to enroll the victim’s phished card details in a mobile wallet from Apple or Google. If the victim also provides that one-time code, the phishers can then link the victim’s card to a mobile device that they physically control.

Pivoting off these T-Mobile phishing domains in urlscan.io reveals a similar scam targeting AT&T customers:

Ford Merrill works in security research at SecAlliance, a CSIS Security Group company. Merrill said multiple China-based cybercriminal groups that sell phishing-as-a-service platforms have been using the mobile points lure for some time, but the scam has only recently been pointed at consumers in the United States.

“These points redemption schemes have not been very popular in the U.S., but have been in other geographies like EU and Asia for a while now,” Merrill said.

A review of other domains flagged by urlscan.io as tied to this Chinese SMS phishing syndicate shows they are also spoofing U.S. state tax authorities, telling recipients they have an unclaimed tax refund. Again, the goal is to phish the user’s payment card information and one-time code.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Many SMS phishing or “smishing” domains are quickly flagged by browser makers as malicious. But Merrill said one burgeoning area of growth for these phishing kits — fake e-commerce shops — can be far harder to spot because they do not call attention to themselves by spamming the entire world.

Merrill said the same Chinese phishing kits used to blast out package redelivery message scams are equipped with modules that make it simple to quickly deploy a fleet of fake but convincing e-commerce storefronts. Those phony stores are typically advertised on Google and Facebook, and consumers usually end up at them by searching online for deals on specific products.

With these fake e-commerce stores, the customer is supplying their payment card and personal information as part of the normal check-out process, which is then punctuated by a request for a one-time code sent by your financial institution. The fake shopping site claims the code is required by the user’s bank to verify the transaction, but it is sent to the user because the scammers immediately attempt to enroll the supplied card data in a mobile wallet.

According to Merrill, it is only during the check-out process that these fake shops will fetch the malicious code that gives them away as fraudulent, which tends to make it difficult to locate these stores simply by mass-scanning the web. Also, most customers who pay for products through these sites don’t realize they’ve been snookered until weeks later when the purchased item fails to arrive.

“The fake e-commerce sites are tough because a lot of them can fly under the radar,” Merrill said. “They can go months without being shut down, they’re hard to discover, and they generally don’t get flagged by safe browsing tools.”

Happily, reporting these SMS phishing lures and websites is one of the fastest ways to get them properly identified and shut down. Raymond Dijkxhoorn is the CEO and a founding member of SURBL, a widely-used blocklist that flags domains and IP addresses known to be used in unsolicited messages, phishing and malware distribution. SURBL has created a website called smishreport.com that asks users to forward a screenshot of any smishing message(s) received.

“If [a domain is] unlisted, we can find and add the new pattern and kill the rest” of the matching domains, Dijkxhoorn said. “Just make a screenshot and upload. The tool does the rest.”

Merrill said the last few weeks of the calendar year typically see a big uptick in smishing — particularly package redelivery schemes that spoof the U.S. Postal Service or commercial shipping companies.

“Every holiday season there is an explosion in smishing activity,” he said. “Everyone is in a bigger hurry, frantically shopping online, paying less attention than they should, and they’re just in a better mindset to get phished.”

SHOP ONLINE LIKE A SECURITY PRO

As we can see, adopting a shopping strategy of simply buying from the online merchant with the lowest advertised prices can be a bit like playing Russian Roulette with your wallet. Even people who shop mainly at big-name online stores can get scammed if they’re not wary of too-good-to-be-true offers (think third-party sellers on these platforms).

If you don’t know much about the online merchant that has the item you wish to buy, take a few minutes to investigate its reputation. If you’re buying from an online store that is brand new, the risk that you will get scammed increases significantly. How do you know the lifespan of a site selling that must-have gadget at the lowest price? One easy way to get a quick idea is to run a basic WHOIS search on the site’s domain name. The more recent the site’s “created” date, the more likely it is a phantom store.

If you receive a message warning about a problem with an order or shipment, visit the e-commerce or shipping site directly, and avoid clicking on links or attachments — particularly missives that warn of some dire consequences unless you act quickly. Phishers and malware purveyors typically seize upon some kind of emergency to create a false alarm that often causes recipients to temporarily let their guard down.

But it’s not just outright scammers who can trip up your holiday shopping: Often times, items that are advertised at steeper discounts than other online stores make up for it by charging way more than normal for shipping and handling.

So be careful what you agree to: Check to make sure you know how long the item will take to be shipped, and that you understand the store’s return policies. Also, keep an eye out for hidden surcharges, and be wary of blithely clicking “ok” during the checkout process.

Most importantly, keep a close eye on your monthly statements. If I were a fraudster, I’d most definitely wait until the holidays to cram through a bunch of unauthorized charges on stolen cards, so that the bogus purchases would get buried amid a flurry of other legitimate transactions. That’s why it’s key to closely review your credit card bill and to quickly dispute any charges you didn’t authorize.