The hacker group of Anonymous attacks the social of short videos TikTok: "China uses it to spy on people, delete it now".
TikTok is the social app that is popular among the very young, but for the hacker collective of Anonymous it represents a threat. The hackers claim that TikTok is being used by China to spy on users around the world, and now they are calling on those who have downloaded and use it to "Delete it now".
The first to ban TikTok, claiming the risk to security and privacy, were the governments of the United States and India. Anonymous hardly ever sides with the authorities, but this time it had to agree with the governments' concerns. After analyzing the app, the hackers of the group have identified a malware that has been inserted by the Chinese government to spy on users. In fact, TikTok would be a tool for mass control, and for this reason it would be better to delete it immediately from your phone.
TikTok, from the rise to suspicions about security
The TikTok app allows you to record short videos to share and exchange with friends, accompanied by funny music. Little skits in which you make yourself the protagonist, which are to be shared with your virtual and non-virtual friends. Since its appearance, the social media app has been very successful, especially among teenagers. During the lockdown for the coronavirus emergency, the rise was total. TikTok was the most downloaded app, with people locked in their quarantined homes ready to shoot a few videos to pass the time and have some fun.
Always during the lockdown, initial security suspicions were triggered after a developer wrote on Reddit that he managed to get a look at the popular app's code. Inside Tiktok there would be a malware capable of stealing device data, installed apps, smartphone browsing data, both IP and mac address. Moreover, the malware would be able to activate the phone's GPS anonymously and keep track of all its owner's movements. And that's not all: the app is remotely controlled and if someone tries to unravel its code, the appearance changes.
Anonymous and the appeal: "Delete TikTok now"
After the alert launched by the developer on Reddit, the governments of the United States and India moved against TikTok. The suspicions of the U.S., however, were prior to these revelations, as already in January the Pentagon had blocked the app on government devices, talking about "potential risks" to security and privacy not better specified.
At this time, Anonymous, after verifying the developer's words, launched a clear appeal to users via Twitter: "Delete TikTok immediately, if you know someone who is using it, explain that it is a malware run by the Chinese government that is conducting a mass espionage operation.
The number of users who downloaded it and use it is stable, but Anonymous is ready to give battle, for now by tweeting, defining TikTok a "public danger" to be deleted to "save young people from manipulation". Although the risk to privacy and security is very serious, the popularity of the app does not seem to be affected.