New Delhi, September 9: Messages containing "crash code" are going viral on WhatsApp. These "crash code" messages, also known as text bombs, can destroy WhatsApp chats and even make the messaging app go crash. The "crash code" messages are designed to crash your WhatsApp, delete chats and freeze your mobile phone. The text bombs have affected WhatsApp of a lot of users in Brazil. WhatsApp Security Bugs to Be Listed on a Dedicated Web Page by Facebook.

The "crash code" messages have been flagged to WhatsApp experts WABetainfo on Twitter. "A contact might send a message that contains many weird characters. If you read them entirely, they have no sense, but WhatsApp might interpret the message in the wrong way. Sometimes WhatsApp is also unable to render the message totally because its structure is so weird: the combination of these characters creates a situation where WhatsApp isn’t able to process the message, determining an infinite crash," WABetainfo reported. WhatsApp Announces New Features Including Contact-Adding QR Codes, Animated Stickers.

The issue has been acknowledged by WhatsApp and the Facebook-owned app has released an update to remove the bug. "WhatsApp has released and already begun rolling out a patch that addresses this in its latest iOS software update. As with any tech product, we strongly encourage users to keep their WhatsApp app and mobile operating system up to date and download updates whenever they’re available," a WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement.

How to Protect Your WhatsApp and Mobile Phone From Text Bombs:

To protect your WhatsApp and smartphone from malicious messages, you can change your WhatsApp settings. Open your WhatsApp settings and click 'Account', 'Privacy' and then 'Groups'. Then under the section 'Who can add me to groups', you can change the setting from 'Everyone' to 'My Contacts'. This should stop you being added to random groups containing the malicious message. If you have recieved a message containing random characters, don't open WhatsApp on your cell phone. Log onto WhatsApp’s web app on your desktop, delete the message and better block the user who sent it.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 09, 2020 09:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).