On Thursday, Pavel Durov wrote in his Telegram channel that people should use any messaging app they like, « but do stay away from WhatsApp – it has.
A hot potato: With over 2 billion monthly active users globally, WhatsApp is the world’s most popular mobile messaging app. But the founder of rival service Telegram thinks people should stay away from Meta’s product, which he calls a surveillance tool constantly plagued with security issues.
On Thursday, Pavel Durov wrote in his Telegram channel that people should use any messaging app they like, « but do stay away from WhatsApp – it has now been a surveillance tool for 13 years. »
Durov was referencing two security issues discovered in WhatsApp last week that could allow remote code execution on specific devices. Hackers just needed to establish a video call with a victim or send them a specially crafted video file. WhatsApp has since released security updates to address the vulnerabilities.
The Russian national, who now lives in self-imposed exile, noted that even upgrading WhatsApp to the latest version doesn’t guarantee you’ll be secure.
