A most improbable trick by which they could know where you are thanks to WhatsApp.
Researchers claim to have found a method by which they obtain find out your location by simply sending a WhatsApp message. They assure that this method is valid for various messaging applications, such as WhatsApp or Signal, and that they have achieved a reliability of more than 80%.
As revealed Restore Privacya team of researchers was able locate the recipient of a message with a rather surprising method. Of course, this is not something simple since they must know the internet networks and the server infrastructure of each company.
They find a method to know your location thanks to WhatsApp
A team of researchers has discovered that it is possible to learn the locations of users of popular instant messaging apps with over 80% accuracy by launching a specially crafted timing attack.
The strange trick to find out your location on WhatsApp
The trick seems weird and imprecise, but these researchers say it works. As shown, with only measure the time it takes for WhatsApp to notify you of the reception of a message, they are able to know quite precisely where you are in the world. This reminds us of another trick with which anyone could block your WhatsApp account.
The trick is to measure the time it takes for the attacker to receive the delivery status notification of a message sent to the target.
Only with the arrival confirmation can they know where you are
In other words, a message is sent and it is measured how long it takes for the indicator to appear that the message has been received (unread). The time will indicate the distance traveled by the message. The measurement of this time must be very precise, although it can be determined in the data of the application.
The attack is limited in its application, so it can only really be used against specific targets. It requires you to message a contact when they are in a familiar location, such as when you know they are at home or at work, so you can know the exact time.
By sending a WhatsApp message, they can know your location
Once you have this calibration data, you can find out where this contact is by just sending them a message and ask how long it takes to arrive. According to the data, the system works with an accuracy of 74% on WhatsApp and 82% on Signal.
Since mobile Internet networks and the infrastructure of instant messaging application servers have specific physical characteristics that result in standard signal paths, these notifications have predictable delays depending on the user’s location.
Of course, researchers say he has an easy fix. These apps just need to set up a system that extends the delivery confirmation time of a message. By randomly varying the time between 1 and 10 seconds, they tell themselves that it would be enough.
