ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that Justice Qazi Feaz Isa’s cell phone has been hacked and that communication purportedly made from his mobile phone might be treated as fake and false.

In a statement, the apex court said that there was suspicion that misguiding communication could be made from Justice Isa’s cell phone.

However, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) did not receive any official complaint from the Supreme Court or from the office of Justice Isa till late night.

While the Supreme Court did not share any more details, information technology experts with FIA suspect that Justice Isa’s WhatsApp has been hacked.

FIA had received numerous complaints from subscribers about their WhatsApp accounts being hacked. Out of every 100 complaints in November and December last year, 30 per cent pertained to WhatsApp hacking.

“However, there were fewer complaints concerning WhatsApp hacking in January,” said a source in FIA.

Social media accounts of celebrities and popular figures are always at greater risk of being hacked. “If hackers hack a user’s WhatsApp account, they can gain access information stored on cloud back-up and such details as contact lists. Invariably, they send distress messages to individuals in the contact list and ask for money. And since contacts know the victim they fall for the trap,” an official said.

According to another information security expert, most social media platforms, including WhatsApp and other such over-the-top (OTT) services, offered several layers of security measures.

“We recommend that subscribers activate and heighten security settings in WhatsApp that requires pin numbers. WhatsApp security can be further heightened by activating the thumb impression security setting,” he said.

According to the Pakistan Telecom­munication Authority (PTA), social media accounts are invariably hacked for criminal purposes and fall within the purview of the cybercrimes wing of FIA. Since these OTT services do not operate under licence in Pakistan, the second best option for users is to contact their service providers regarding the issue.

The PTA had in April last year warned of possible cyberattacks under the guise of messages containing coronavirus information and advised people not to use WiFi at public places. Late in 2019, the PTA also issued warnings regarding WhatsApp users being targeted worldwide, including users from Pakistan, with hacking software.

The PTA had taken up the matter with WhatsApp management not only to get the details of users targeted in Pakistan, but also to have an update on the remedial measures taken by WhatsApp to prevent occurrence of such hacking attempts in future.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2021