MENLO PARK, California – Kamfanin Meta, mai mallakar WhatsApp, ya tabbatar da cewa wasu masu amfani da manhajar sadarwa ta WhatsApp sun fuskantar harin spyware wanda bai buƙatar wani mataki daga masu amfani ba. Harin ya shafi kusan mutane 90, ciki har da ‘yan jarida da membobin al’umma, kuma an yi imanin cewa an yi amfani da spyware daga kamfanin Paragon Solutions na Isra'ila.
Meta ta bayyana cewa ta aika da wasiƙar dakatarwa ga Paragon kuma tana binciken hanyoyin shari’a. A cewar wani mai magana da yawun Meta, “Wannan shine sabon misali na dalilin da ya sa dole ne a ɗauki kamfanonin spyware a matsayin masu alhakin ayyukansu na haram. WhatsApp zai ci gaba da kare ikon mutane na sadarwa cikin sirri.”
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, mataimakiyar shugabar bincike na The Guardian ta Amurka, ta bayyana cewa spyware na Paragon, wanda aka fi sani da Graphite, yana da iyawa kwatankwacin spyware na NSO Group, Pegasus. “Idan waya ta kamu da Graphite, mai sarrafa spyware zai sami cikakken damar shiga wayar, gami da karanta saƙonnin da aka aika ta hanyar manhajojin da ke da ɓoyayye kamar WhatsApp da Signal,” in ji ta.
Adam Boynton, babban manajan dabarun tsaro a Jamf, ya ce, “Yana da mahimmanci a tuna cewa spyware har yanzu ba kasafai ba ne ga mai amfani na yau da kullun. A zahiri, kasa da kashi 1% na ma’aikata suna fuskantar kowane nau’in malware akan na’urar hannu.” Duk da haka, ya yi gargadin cewa Jamf ta lura da karuwar hare-haren da aka yi wa ma’aikatan hannu a cikin watanni 12-18 da suka gabata, don haka ‘yan jarida da sauran manyan mutane su yi taka tsantsan.
Meta ta ce ba ta bayyana inda masu amfani da aka kai wa hari suke ba, amma an yi imanin cewa sun fito daga fiye da ƙasashe 20. Kamfanin ya kuma bayyana cewa ya yi kira ga waɗanda aka yi imanin an yi musu hari, yana ba su shawarwari kan yadda za su kare kansu.
John Scott-Railton, babban mai bincike a Cibiyar Citizen Lab a Jami’ar Toronto, ya ce cibiyar ta ba WhatsApp wasu bayanai da suka taimaka wa kamfanin fahimtar hanyar da aka yi amfani da ita wajen kai wa masu amfani hari. An sa ran cibiyar za ta fitar da rahoto nan gaba wanda zai ba da ƙarin bayani game da harin.
