WhatsApp Alerts 200 Users After Fake iOS App Installed Spyware; Italian Firm Faces Action
WhatsApp Alerts 200 Users After Fake iOS App Installed Spyware; Italian Firm Faces Action
https://thehackernews.com/2026/04/whatsapp-alerts-200-users-after-fake.html
Publish Date: 2026-04-02 05:51:00
Source Domain: thehackernews.com
Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp said it alerted about 200 users who were tricked into installing a bogus version of its iOS app that was infected with spyware.
According to reports from Italian newspaper La Repubblica and news agency ANSA, the vast majority of the targets are located in Italy. It’s assessed that the threat actors behind the activity used social engineering tactics to get users to install malicious software that mimicked WhatsApp.
All the affected users have been logged out and have been recommended to uninstall the malware-laced apps and download the official WhatsApp app. WhatsApp did not reveal who was targeted in these attacks.
The tech giant said it’s also taking action against Asigint, an Italian subsidiary of spyware company SIO, for allegedly creating a counterfeit version of WhatsApp.
On its website, the company advertises solutions to law enforcement agencies, government organizations, and police and intelligence agencies for monitoring suspect activities, gathering intelligence, or conducting covert operations.
In December 2025, TechCrunch reported that SIO was behind a set of malicious Android apps that masqueraded as WhatsApp and other popular apps but stole private data from a target’s device using a spyware family called Spyrtacus. The apps are believed to have been used by a government customer to target unknown victims in Italy.
SIO is one of the many Italian companies selling surveillance tools, including Cy4Gate, eSurv, GR Sistemi, Negg, Raxir, and RCS Lab, turning the country into a “spyware hub.”
Early last year, WhatsApp alerted around 90 users that they were targeted with Paragon Solutions’ spyware known as Graphite. Then, in August 2025, it notified less than 200 users who may have been targeted as part of a sophisticated campaign by chaining together zero-day vulnerabilities in iOS and the messaging app.
The development comes a…
