iWorld
Uruguay’s win creates frenzy on Twitter
MUMBAI: Bouncing back after a knee recovery, Luis Suarez scored twice to give Uruguay a 2-1 victory over England at the FIFA World Cup to revive his team’s Group D campaign.
The action in Brazil played out on twitter with fans, players and celebrities expressing themselves in 140 characters.
There were a total of 6.7 million tweets during the match window. It wasn’t surprising that the Liverpool striker Suarez received 1.5 million mentions of his twitter handle @luis16suarez during the game.
The star players of Uruguay who found the most mentions were Luis Suarez, Alvaro Pereira and Edinson Cavani while from the English team Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge received the most number tweets with their respective twitter handle mentions.
The top three peak moments of the game were when Suarez scored the first goal which had twitter abuzz with 2,14,246 tweets while English star player Rooney lone goal generated a total of 2,07,730 tweets and 1,47,428 tweets when Suarez scored the second and final goal.
The most shared tweet from the riveting game was from OneDirection’s Liam Payne’s tweet which received more than 48,000 thousand retweets. The other popular tweets were from Dutch footballer Robin Van Persie, Rolling Stones founder vocalist Mick Jagger and Rihanna.
iWorld
Meta warns 200 users after fake Whatsapp spyware attack
Italy-targeted campaign used unofficial app to deploy surveillance spyware.
MUMBAI: It looked like a message, but it behaved like a mole. Meta has warned around 200 users most of them in Italy after uncovering a targeted spyware campaign that weaponised a fake version of WhatsApp to infiltrate devices. The attack, first reported by Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, relied on classic social engineering with a modern twist: persuading users to download an unofficial WhatsApp clone embedded with surveillance software. The malicious application, believed to be developed by Italian firm SIO through its subsidiary ASIGINT, was designed to mimic the real app closely enough to bypass suspicion.
Meta’s security teams identified roughly 200 individuals who may have installed the compromised version, triggering immediate countermeasures. Affected users were logged out of their accounts and issued alerts warning of potential privacy breaches, with the company describing the incident as a “targeted social engineering attempt” aimed at gaining device-level access.
The malicious app was not distributed via official app stores but circulated through third-party channels, where it was presented as a legitimate WhatsApp alternative. Once installed, it reportedly allowed external operators to access sensitive data stored on the device turning a simple download into a potential surveillance gateway.
According to Techcrunch, Meta is now preparing legal action against the spyware developers to curb further misuse. The company, however, has not disclosed details about the specific individuals targeted or the extent of data compromised.
A Whatsapp spokesperson reiterated that user safety remains the top priority, particularly for those misled into installing the fake iOS application. Meanwhile, reports from La Repubblica suggest the spyware may be linked to “Spyrtacus”, a strain previously associated with Android-based attacks that could intercept calls, activate microphones and even access cameras.
The episode underscores a growing reality in the digital age, the threat is no longer just what you download, but where you download it from. As unofficial apps become increasingly convincing, the line between communication tool and covert surveillance is getting harder to spot and far easier to exploit.
