MP News: Cyber Cell Denies WhatsApp Hack Claims, Urges Caution

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh cyber cell has found that WhatsApp cannot be hacked and is safe. Recently, Indian government warned users of a serious security threat, claiming hackers could access messages, photos and videos.

India’s CERT-In issued a critical warning for WhatsApp users about a new account hijacking campaign called GhostPairing. The attack exploits WhatsApp’s device-linking feature to silently grant hackers access to messages and media without OTPs or SIM swaps. Users are advised to avoid suspicious links, check linked devices and enable two-step verification.

Talking about the warning, SP Cyber Pranay Nagwanshi told Free Press that after the alert, the cyber police team investigated the methods mentioned in hacking reports. The goal was to protect people using the app in state and prevent them from falling into cyber fraud traps.

He claimed that in their experiments, no way to breach the app was found, thanks to its security features.

Nagwanshisaid that WhatsApp has advised users to be careful before linking any devices and ensure two-step verification (2SV) is enabled. Users should pause before responding to any request for numbers or codes, question whether the request makes sense, and verify identity of the person or organisation messaging them.

He said this is general SOP for social media users to avoid falling victim to cyber fraud. Nagwanshi cautioned that while no red flags may appear, users should still check for rogue devices linked to their accounts.

He also said that earlier, CERT-In had warned about a 68 crore email password hacking threat. That warning proved correct, and MP Cyber had issued an advisory, which users acted upon successfully.

Users advised to avoid suspicious links and verify device-linking requests

Two-step verification (2SV) strongly recommended for all users.

Verify requests for codes or numbers before responding