{"id":3269,"date":"2025-10-22T09:36:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/?p=3269"},"modified":"2025-10-22T09:36:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:36:49","slug":"ex-whatsapp-security-chief-accuses-meta-of-endangering-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/ex-whatsapp-security-chief-accuses-meta-of-endangering-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-WhatsApp security chief accuses Meta of endangering users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Attaullah Baig, the former head of security at the Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp, recently filed a lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing it of endangering billions of users.  Attaullah is being represented by the whistle-blower organization Psst.org and the law firm Schonbrun, Seplow, Harris, Hoffman & Zeldes. Meta has so far denied the suit\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s in the lawsuit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the 115-page lawsuit<\/a>, 1500 engineers at WhatsApp had unrestricted access to user data, including profile pictures, locations, group memberships, and contact lists. Baig also claims that internal security tests revealed engineers could \u201cmove or steal user data\u201d without detection. This included details like contact information, IP addresses, and profile photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit also claims that over 100,000 accounts on the messaging app experienced hacking or takeover attempts daily, and the company failed to take any action. Baig allegedly proposed fixes, such as implementing basic cybersecurity measures, including adequate data handling and breach detection capabilities; however, user growth was ultimately prioritized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Baig also argues in the lawsuit that Meta\u2019s conduct breached securities laws requiring companies to disclose potential risks to shareholders, as well as violated a privacy agreement the company reached with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview, Baig stated<\/a> that, in addition to filing the lawsuit, he has also alerted the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission. \u201cThere are just so many harms that the users face. This is about holding Meta accountable and putting the interests of users first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meta\u2019s response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSadly, this is a familiar playbook in which a former employee is dismissed for poor performance and then goes public with distorted claims that misrepresent the ongoing hard work of our team,\u201d Carl Woog, a spokesman for WhatsApp, wrote in a statement. \u201cSecurity is an adversarial space, and we pride ourselves in building on our strong record of protecting people\u2019s privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is at odds with Baig\u2019s claims that he was punished after reporting his concerns in 2021, resulting in negative performance reviews and verbal warnings. Eventually, he was fired in February 2025, Meta citing \u201cpoor performance\u201d as the main reason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other recent Meta controversies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t the only controversy Meta is courting with former employees in the last month. 6 former and current employees<\/a> recently came forward as whistleblowers with allegations about the company\u2019s virtual reality devices and apps harming children. According to findings and documents disclosed to Congress, children were exposed to inappropriate content and behavior in VR spaces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attaullah Baig, the former head of security at the Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp, recently filed a lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing it of endangering billions of users.  Attaullah is being represented by the whistle-blower organization Psst.org and the law firm Schonbrun, Seplow, Harris, Hoffman & Zeldes. Meta has so far denied the suit\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3270,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3269\/revisions\/3270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssls.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}