Government advises Nigerians from engaging in the Invisible TikTok challenge
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned its residents to avoid taking part in the trending Invisible TikTok video challenge saying cybercriminals are now targeting those engaging in the challenge.
The NCC said that the video challenge could expose the userโs devices to information-stealing malware.
The invisible challenge is where a user films themselves with no clothes on while using TikTok’s “Invisible Body” filter, which removes the body from the video and replaces it with a blurry background.
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An advisory shared on Tuesday by the NCCโs Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) said hackers had taken advantage of a viral TikTok challenge, known as the โInvisible Challengeโ, to disseminate an information-stealing malware called the WASP (or W4SP) stealer.
โThis malware may be capable of covertly collecting screenshots, video recordings, or the ability to activate any connected camera or microphone,โ the advisory said.
It added that personally identifiable information (PII), including names and passwords, keystrokes from emails, chat programmes, websites visited and financial activity may also be harvested by the malware secretly monitoring user behaviour.
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TikTokโs popularity continues to grow rapidly in Nigeria, especially among young people.
It is the ninth most popular social media app in the country but has largely escaped the attention of regulatory authorities.
Through the challenge, hackers install malware on thousands of devices and steal their passwords, Discord accounts, and, potentially, cryptocurrency wallets.
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