The Portuguese Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) has issued an official warning about an ongoing global cyber campaign aimed at hacking WhatsApp and Signal messaging accounts.
According to Portuguese intelligence, state-backed hackers are behind the attack. The attackers primarily target government officials, diplomats, military personnel, and civil society representatives with access to sensitive information in Portugal and NATO allies.
It’s important to emphasize that the WhatsApp and Signal apps themselves have not been hacked—their end-to-end encryption remains secure. The attack is carried out exclusively through social engineering: hackers trick users into revealing passwords and verification codes, forcing them to scan malicious QR codes, or revealing connection details for “linked devices.”
Portugal’s warning follows a similar statement from Dutch intelligence agencies (AIVD and MIVD), which directly implicated Russian state hackers in a similar campaign. Experts believe the attack is global in scope and affects multiple countries.
Users of regular messaging apps are also advised to be vigilant—social engineering techniques can be used against anyone, not just high-ranking officials.