Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ne ek official cyber advisory jari karte hue WhatsApp users ko GhostPairing naam ke naye cyber campaign ke khilaf alert kiya hai. Government ke mutabik, ye campaign specially WhatsApp accounts ko target kar raha hai aur bina user ko turant pata chale, account hijack kiya ja sakta hai.
Advisory MeitY ke under aane wali national cyber agency CERT-In ke through issue ki gayi hai. Isme bataya gaya hai ki attackers social engineering techniques ka use kar rahe hain, jahan users ko normal-looking messages bheje jaate hain jaise “Hi, ye photo dekho” ya “Is link ko open karo”.
GhostPairing attack ka sabse khatarnak aspect WhatsApp ka device-linking feature hai. Attackers fake pages ke zariye users ko confuse kar dete hain aur unknowingly unse apna WhatsApp kisi unknown device se link karwa lete hain. Is process me OTP ya direct login ki zarurat nahi hoti, isliye victim ko shak bhi nahi hota.
Once account compromise ho jaata hai, attacker messages read kar sakta hai, media files access kar sakta hai aur user ke contacts ko bhi scam messages bhej sakta hai. CERT-In ne is threat ko high-risk category me rakha hai, kyunki hijacking silently hoti hai aur damage tab samajh aata hai jab kaafi der ho chuki hoti hai.
Government ne users ko kuch clear safety instructions follow karne ko kaha hai. Kisi bhi suspicious link par click na karein, chahe message kisi known contact se hi kyu na aaya ho. WhatsApp jaisa dikhne wala koi bhi external page ho, wahan phone number ya verification details enter karna avoid karein.
Cyber experts ka kehna hai ki aise attacks technical kam aur human trust exploitation zyada hote hain. Users ko apne WhatsApp ke Linked Devices section ko regularly check karna chahiye aur agar koi unknown device linked dikhe, to turant logout kar dena chahiye.
Authorities ka maanna hai ki agar aise compromised accounts se scam messages aage circulate hote rahe, to ye campaign aur bade scale par fail sakta hai. Abhi tak WhatsApp ki taraf se is advisory par detailed response ka intezar hai, lekin users ko proactive rehne ki salah di gayi hai.
