Telegram is a competing message app in the market which has been providing many features that WhatsApp has introduced recently.
Telegram Founder, Pavel Durov has made a scathing claim that WhatsApp is not secure and is used as a surveillance tool. He claims hackers could have full access to all the data on your phone if you use WhatsApp.
Durov in this post is referring to the critical Whatsapp vulnerability that was reported widely last week. He points out that because of the security issue, a hacker could control your device by simply sending you a malicious video or starting a video call.
WhatsApp has issued a fix for the vulnerability, but Durov says that is unlikely to help. He shares proof that WhatsApp has previously fixed similar issues in 2017, 2018, 2019 and another in 2020.
He implies that all these recurring issues mean WhatsApp is not secure and these flaws leave doors open for hackers to access the device. Highlighting all these concerns, the Telegram Founder says these reasons made him delete WhatsApp from his device years ago.
Trying to sound unbiased towards his messaging platform, Durov says he is not trying to push people to use Telegram, claiming the platform already has over 700 million active users. Durov signs off the post by saying, use any app but stay away from WhatsApp.
This is not the first time Durov has made such claims, and it doesn’t help that WhatsApp continues to have critical issues at regular intervals.
WhatsApp is used by billions across the globe, so it is bound to attract unwanted attention, and the Meta-owned platform has to realise that any loopholes are there to be exploited, leaving millions at risk of losing their data or control of their device in some form. Telegram is also popular, and you also have Signal which continues to grab eyeballs whenever WhatsApp runs into some trouble. But to be fair, WhatsApp is miles ahead of these two messaging apps that are accessible and easy to use for all users.