Viber Hack attempt
In recent days, the case of data breach and security threats is increasing in Nepal. With the growth of digital trends and the adaption of digital technology in the country, the risk of a data breach is also getting bigger. Data security has become one of the most needed things at the moment. Viber hack has become widespread with the recent leaks and today we will be discussing the majors taken to avoid such hacks.
Foodmandu is a popular food delivery company in Nepal and has a huge customer base. A month earlier the data of almost 50 thousand users of the company were leaked to the unsafe hands and right next month, Vianet Communications was a victim of a data breach. Vianet Communications is one of the biggest Internet Service Providers (ISP) of the country and almost 170K users’ personal data was leaked. It is quite worrisome as the leaked data was not only available to some specific person but made publicly available.
A lot of people got a chance to access those data and this has led to serious issues in recent days. Soon after the availability of data publicly, the Viber hack attempt has grown very much, troubling people’s life in this COVID-19 pandemic. We have known some of the issues that people are facing in Viber and will be discussing the ways to overcome the hack attempt.
Viber hack attempt in Nepal
It has been reported that Viber users in Nepal are getting calls and SMS with Verification Code and Verification Link. Some have reported that they are getting calls from unknown foreign numbers starting with +33.
Read: Cyber Security in Nepal: Data breaches, identity theft, and security of digital data
Viber doesn’ send verification code or link until and unless you try to activate the Viber account in the new device. When you activate your account on a new device, Viber calls you as a verification call which ends in a certain time. Getting calls and messages fro the numbers starting with +33 in an active device with an active account is suspicious. If you are getting such calls or messages, you can be sure that someone is trying to hijack your Viber account and we do not recommend you to receive such calls.
For the convenience of the Viber users, we have gathered some techniques that hackers are trying to exploit your account and you should avoid it.
- Getting SMS that has a verification link or code from an unknown number or even from Viber.
- Getting calls from anonymous numbers from foreign countries that usually starts with +33.
- Randomly opening a QR scanner in your Viber App which only executes when someone tries to access your account from PC.
Avoiding your account from being exploited
As mentioned above that the link is incoming to your account to get access to your account on PC. Those links are authorization links that are pushed to your smartphone from the user who tries to access your account. Those links are valid for 30 minutes and if you click the link, the login attempts by the anonymous person will be authorized. Eventually, the person gets access to your account and this might get disastrous.
We can avoid this situation by taking some precautions. If you are one of the victims of these malicious activities, we request you not to respond to any of these activities. If you are already a victim of such activities, then you can delete the data on your Viber account. Find the steps to follow for protecting your data.
- Open your Viber Account.
- Click on the ‘More’ button at the bottom right corner.
- Then click on the ‘Settings’.
- Click on the ‘Privacy’ option.
- Click on the ‘Personal data’.
- Then, click on the ‘Delete your data’ option.
- Finally, click on ‘DELETE DATA’.
Furthermore, Viber has also requested users to avoid such codes and calls. They have also urged users to request for help in twitter @ViberHelp or open let them know by creating a ticket at https://vb.me/contactsupport.
Now you can follow us on Nepalitelecom Viber Community (Recently verified)
Notice from Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA)
Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) has also issued a notice regarding this issue. NTA has requested not to call back to the unknown foreign numbers for those missed calls.
NTA Notice in Details :
Missed calls and messages received in the mobile numbers of Nepal from foreign unrecognized phone numbers has caused serious attention of the authorities towards the inconvenience caused to the subscribers. Although the Authority has instructed telecommunication service providers to prevent such Missed Call Scam known as Wangiri Scam (One-Ring Scam) in the past, the act of preventing such missed calls and messages from different foreign numbers has been challenging.
There is no harm to users to get calls from an unrecognized foreign number or to get a message from a stranger until and unless you call back on the phone to such an unidentified number and click on the received message, links, etc. They published the notice to inform all those concerned with the Viber hack or any other social media hack in the future. We request you to about such suspicious acts via email address info@nta.gov.np.
In order to keep your Viber account safe, please follow the steps mentioned above. Private firms should take data security seriously and avoid such circumstances that may harm many people at the same time. Are you a victim of such fraudulent activities? Have you got such calls or messages in your Viber account which could be for a possible hack? Please let us know in the comment section below. Do stay safe!
