WhatsApp fights spam: message limit for unanswered messages

WhatsApp wants to declare war on spam. To this end, the messaging platform plans to limit the number of messages that private users and businesses can send if (unidentified) recipients do not respond to them.

This is what the magazine TechCrunch has found out. According to the report, WhatsApp counts all messages sent by users and businesses towards a monthly budget – unless the senders receive a response. WhatsApp did not specify the maximum number of unanswered messages before the block. However, the app is said to display a pop-up window as a warning if affected users approach the limit, so that they may still be able to avert the block.

WhatsApp told TechCrunch that it plans to activate the feature "in several countries in the coming weeks." Average users are not affected, as they typically do not reach the limits. The mechanism is designed to combat people and businesses effectively that send mass messages and spam people.

Spam protection makes sense

Spamming on WhatsApp seems to be a lucrative business model. IT researchers from Socket have discovered a campaign in which the Chrome Web Store was flooded with 131 clones of a WhatsApp web automation extension. The spammers are currently targeting Brazilian users in particular.

As the IT security researchers from Socket in a blog post report, the code of the browser extensions injects itself directly into the WhatsApp website and runs there alongside WhatsApp's own scripts. It automates mass contacts and schedules them in such a way that they circumvent WhatsApp's anti-spam measures. The authors of the original extension are looking for customers who pay for the mass spam – in return, they promise a multiple of profit – and make their brands and websites available. Therefore, according to the researchers, the same code with different brands as a hook has already appeared 131 times in the Chrome Web Store. In their analysis, they list all malicious extensions in the Indicators of Compromise (IOCs). They have also reported the extensions to Google so that they can be removed from the store.

As early as April, WhatsApp took initial measures against unwanted advertising messages. To this end, the messaging platform restricted the broadcast function, with which users and companies can reach many users at once. At that time, WhatsApp was still testing suitable limits. The beta version at the time allowed 30 broadcast messages per month. For further communications, WhatsApp recommended that affected users should use status updates or channels.

(dmk)