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WhatsApp Hijacking Campaign Exposed: Learn how CTM360 is helping to combat this sophisticated threat by visiting www.ctm360.com and staying up-to-date on the latest cybersecurity news and insights.
CTM360 has identified a sophisticated WhatsApp hijacking campaign called "HackOnChat" that leverages trust in WhatsApp's web interface to trick users into compromising their accounts. The campaign uses social engineering tactics, including Session Hijacking and Account Takeover, to exploit victims' psychological trust in the platform. Attackers use fake security alerts, WhatsApp Web lookalike portals, and spoofed group-invite messages to push malicious links to potential victims. The campaign targets users across multiple regions, with a notable surge in activity in the Middle East and Asia. The scale of HackOnChat is impressive, with thousands of malicious URLs being hosted on inexpensive top-level domains.
In a recent exposé, cyber threat intelligence firm CTM360 has shed light on a sophisticated WhatsApp hijacking campaign that has been wreaking havoc across the globe. Dubbed "HackOnChat," this campaign leverages the trust and familiarity of WhatsApp's web interface to trick users into compromising their accounts. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a complex network of malicious URLs, website-building platforms, and social engineering tactics designed to deceive and exploit unsuspecting victims.
At its core, HackOnChat is a masterclass in social engineering, leveraging the psychological trust built around WhatsApp's familiar web interface to lure users into compromising their accounts. The campaign exploits two primary techniques: Session Hijacking and Account Takeover. In Session Hijacking, attackers misuse WhatsApp's linked-device functionality to hijack active WhatsApp Web sessions, effectively taking control of the victim's account. Meanwhile, Account Takeover involves deceiving victims into surrendering authentication keys, granting attackers full control over their accounts.
The campaign's deployment strategy is equally sophisticated. Attackers utilize a range of tactics, including templates of fake security alerts, WhatsApp Web lookalike portals, and spoofed group-invite messages, to push malicious links to potential victims. These sites are further optimized for global reach, featuring multilingual support and a country-code selector that adapts the interface for users across multiple regions.
Once scammers gain control of a compromised account, they exploit it to target the victim's contacts, often requesting money or sensitive information under the guise of a trusted source. They may also sift through messages, media, and documents to steal personal, financial, or private data, which can be used for fraud, impersonation, or extortion. Frequently, these attacks extend further as the compromised account is used to send phishing messages to the victim's contacts, creating a chain of attacks that spreads the scam.
The scale and sophistication of HackOnChat are truly impressive, with investigators identifying thousands of malicious URLs being hosted on inexpensive top-level domains and rapidly generated through modern website-building platforms. This allows attackers to deploy new pages at scale, making it difficult for users to keep pace.
The campaign's global reach is equally striking, with a noticeable surge in activity across the Middle East and Asia. This raises important questions about the nature of global cybersecurity threats and the need for coordinated international efforts to combat them.
In conclusion, HackOnChat serves as a stark reminder of the power of social engineering in the digital landscape. As attackers continue to evolve and adapt their tactics, it is essential that we prioritize education, awareness, and effective countermeasures to protect ourselves against these types of threats.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/The-Whispering-Walls-Unraveling-the-Sophisticated-WhatsApp-Hijacking-Campaign-Exposed-by-CTM360-ehn.shtml
https://thehackernews.com/2025/11/ctm360-exposes-global-whatsapp.html
Published: Thu Nov 20 05:58:18 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
