Countless Kuwaiti WhatsApp accounts hacked in new, innovative technique
‘Contact authorities immediately’
KUWAIT CITY, March 20: Cybersecurity expert and head of the Cybersecurity Committee at the Kuwaiti Electronic Media Union, Muhammad Al-Rashidi, said a number of Kuwaiti WhatsApp accounts were hacked in a new, innovative way that takes place in several steps, reports Al-Rai daily.
Al-Rashidi added, “This hack begins with a message via the WhatsApp application from an unknown number claiming to have received a message from the number to be hacked.
“The target then responds that he did not send any message, and not long after that, this matter is repeated a second, third, and perhaps fourth time,” using different numbers with the same content and in the same way, so that the owner of the account to be targeted suspects that a malfunction has occurred in his account,” he explained, explaining that “about an hour after these messages, an account claiming to be from technical support for the WhatsApp application contacts him, and there is a complaint that your account sends messages to users, and then the owner may fall. The account is in the trap and believes what is happening.”
Al-Rashidi explained, “The account that claims to represent technical support for the application will tell the target that a (code) will be sent from WhatsApp, so that the account will not be suspended.
When this impersonator is given the sent code, the account will be hacked immediately, and therefore this (code) should not be given” to anyone.
Al-Rashidi stressed the need to communicate with the relevant official authorities to inform them of what happened so that the account is not exploited for things that violate the law, as well as informing family and friends, so that sums of money are not requested from them, stressing at the same time the necessity of activating the (two-step verification) method and linking the account to e-mail to make it easier to recover.
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Ex-wife wins case: The Civil Commercial Court recently ruled that a female citizen has the right to obtain a document affirming ownership of the marital home without the need to obtain her exhusband’s signature, reports AlAnba
daily.
Attorney Alaa Al-Saeedi, lawyer for the female citizen, filed a case against the ex-husband and the concerned government authorities; stating that her client constructed the marital home in 2012, but her husband divorced her in 2016 and refused to give her the house.
Al-Saeedi presented to the court the electricity receipts that her client paid, in addition to documents proving she spent money on building the house and this was attested by the experts’ management report.
The lawyer then called for amending the Housing Law, so the citizens are treated fairly and the court procedures are simplified for them. She argued the State provides housing care for the family, the basis of which is the custodial right of the wife after the divorce.
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Drug-pusher held: Patrol men from the Ahmadi Security Directorate have arrested a person in the Al-Aqaila area for promoting narcotic drugs, reports Al-Seyassah daily.
The person was arrested on suspicion after the driver tried to escape as soon as he saw the police patrol. A bag containing narcotics was found in his possession, and he was referred to the specialist.
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Hand stuck in meat grinder: A successful operation by personnel from Directorate-General of Fire Department (DGFD) resulted in freeing the hand of a domestic worker which got entangled in a meat grinder, reports Al-Anba daily.
The DGFD said two technicians were dispatched to a hospital after the hospital could not cope with the situation and sought the help of the firemen.