Iranian state media urged citizens to delete the app and alleged it was sending user data to Israel. AFP
Iranian state media urged citizens to delete the app and alleged it was sending user data to Israel. AFP
Iranian state media urged citizens to delete the app and alleged it was sending user data to Israel. AFP
Iranian state media urged citizens to delete the app and alleged it was sending user data to Israel. AFP

WhatsApp security questioned as Israel remains the only known actor to hack it


Dana Alomar
  • English
  • Arabic

WhatsApp is facing renewed scrutiny after Iranian state media urged citizens to delete the app and alleged it was sending user data to Israel.

The messaging platform, owned by US tech giant Meta, denied the claim and said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most”.

“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,” a statement said. “We do not provide bulk information to any government.”

The timing of the accusation has sparked fresh debate around WhatsApp’s security, particularly given that Israel is the only country known to have successfully hacked the platform.

Strong encryption?

“WhatsApp uses strong end-to-end encryption, which means only the sender and receiver can read the messages,” said Mohammad Ismail, vice president for EMEA at Cequence Security, a company that offers application programming interfaces security management. "Even WhatsApp itself can’t see what’s being shared."

In practice, this kind of encryption is considered very secure and is trusted by security professionals around the world, he said.

"However, the biggest risks usually does not come from the encryption, but from things like someone getting access to your phone or tricking you into revealing your login,” he told The National.

Pegasus breach

In 2019, the messaging platform filed a lawsuit against Israeli spyware company NSO Group, claiming the firm’s Pegasus software had exploited a vulnerability in the app to target more than 1,400 users.

Victims included journalists, human rights defenders and activists across several countries.

The attack did not compromise WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption. Instead it utilised a “zero-click” exploit, a method that enables spyware to be installed simply by sending a specially crafted message or call, which triggers the hack without the user needing to click or even see it.

Once Pegasus is installed, it can bypass encryption entirely by accessing messages directly, recording calls and even activating the phone’s camera and microphone without the user’s knowledge, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The NSO Group says it licenses Pegasus exclusively to vetted government clients for use in counterterrorism and criminal investigations, and all foreign sales are subject to approval by the Israeli Defence Ministry.

Encryption v device-level threats

While WhatsApp’s encryption remains intact in such cases, security experts warn encryption alone is not enough to protect against sophisticated surveillance tools.

Experts say directly breaching WhatsApp encryption is extremely unlikely. “It would take huge computing power and advanced knowledge, which even most government agencies don’t have,” Mr Ismail said. “Instead, hackers usually go after easier targets, like hacking into your phone, sending fake links, or using spyware.”

Technical flaws and metadata risks

Subho Halder, chief executive and co-founder of Appknox, a security platform, noted that WhatsApp’s encryption protocol, the Signal Protocol, is considered the gold standard in secure messaging.

“WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption remains mathematically unbreakable with today’s technology,” Mr Halder told The National.

However, a recent scan of WhatsApp’s latest Android build (v2.25.9.78) by Appknox uncovered several critical and high-severity implementation flaws, including insecure network configurations, hardcoded secrets and potential file access vulnerabilities.

“These don’t break encryption directly, but they expose sensitive data through poor engineering practices,” he added. “The real risk often lies not in the cryptography, but in how securely it’s implemented.”

He added that other vectors remain concerning. “WhatsApp does not encrypt metadata, like who messaged whom, when and for how long, which can still be revealing even without access to the message content,” Mr Halder said.

He noted that cloud backups, while now optionally encrypted, have previously posed security risks.

Regional distrust

The renewed concern over WhatsApp’s vulnerability comes amid broader distrust in Meta in the Middle East.

Last year, the firm updated its hate speech guidelines to restrict posts referencing Zionists, saying the term was frequently used in way to dehumanise Jews and Israelis.

However, researchers and rights groups argue this change has led to the suppression of political speech, especially from pro-Palestinian voices.

Meta has been accused of “shadow-banning” Arabic or Palestine-related content, and Human Rights Watch documented more than 1,000 instances of post removals or demotions on Facebook and Instagram in October and November last year.

Wider context in Iran

Iran’s call to delete WhatsApp is not unprecedented. The app was blocked during nationwide protests in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Although the ban was lifted late last year, the government maintains tight control over digital communication and platforms like WhatsApp are widely used via virtual private networks (VPNs).

WhatsApp is one of Iran’s most popular messaging apps, along with Instagram and Telegram.

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Founder: Nour Sabri

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace

Size: Two employees

Funding stage: Seed investment

Initial investment: $200,000

Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East) 

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Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

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What can you do?

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You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

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Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat 

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

The story in numbers

18

This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens

450,000

More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps

1.5 million

There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m

73

The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association

18,000

The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme

77,400

The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study

4,926

This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee

Match info

Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')

West Ham United 0

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Updated: June 19, 2025, 12:48 PM