WhatsApp voicemail scam alert!

A worrying new WhatsApp hack could give cyber criminals access to your account.

Scammers attempt to gain access to a users account by taking advantage of weakly secured voicemail inboxes, according to Naked Security, a blog run by British security company Sophos.

The attacks became so prevalent that Israels National Cyber Security Authority issued a nationwide warning.

To start, attackers try to install the WhatsApp app on their own phone using a legitimate users phone number.

WhatsApp attempts to verify the login attempt by sending a six-digit verification code via text message to the victims telephone.

Hackers try to do this when the victim may not be checking their phone, such as nighttime.

WhatsApp then gives users the option to send the six-digit code via a phone call with an automated message.

Since the user isnt checking their phone, the message ideally goes to their voicemail.

The scammer then takes advantage of a security flaw in many telecommunications networks, which provides customers with a generic phone number to call and retrieve their voicemails.

For many voicemails, users only have to enter a four-digit PIN, which if they havent changed it, is typically an easy password such as 0000 or 1234 by default.

Hackers enter the password and gain access to the victims voicemail inbox, thereby allowing them to listen to the pre-recorded message from WhatsApp that contains the six-digit code.

They enter that code into their own device, giving them complete access to the victims WhatsApp account.

Making matters worse, particularly savvy hackers can set up two-factor authentication for the WhatsApp account, which requires users to enter a unique PIN code if they want to re-verify their phone number.

This prevents the victim from regaining control over their own phone number, Sophos noted.

The attack was first documented by Ran Bar-Zik, a web developer at Oath, but resurfaced again in a new report by ZD Net.

Israeli security officials have warned that the attack has been on the rise in recent weeks.

They recommend that users turn on two-factor authentication on their account, which adds an extra layer of security to your account.

Using application-based 2FA...mitigates a lot of the risk, because these mobile authentication apps don’t rely on communications tied to phone numbers, Sophos researchers explained.

Users can do that by navigating to Settings in WhatsApp, then tapping Account. Navigate to the Two-step verification heading and tap Enable.

Further, experts say users should make sure they have a strong PIN on their voicemail inbox.

17 Things Any Man Who Dates A Girly Girl Should Be Aware Of

Gossip Girl

1. We know you like “the natural look.” However you don’t understand what “the natural look” actually is. The natural look is not a makeup-free face, it is applying makeup in a specific way and that may or may not be the style we want to rock that day. Makeup isn’t for you. Yes we love you and we want to look good for you, but mostly we want to do what makes us feel great.

2. We need more shelf and drawer space in the bathroom than you do. Sorry. You can have the garage.

3. Beauty is an art form. As François Nars argued, “Andy Warhol realized art could take any form. Putting on your makeup is a kind of self-portrait.”

4. The only reason we are ever late in getting ready by the time you want to leave is because we want to look our best for the evening. Keep in mind that our intentions are good and try to be patient. Or just tell us the event starts 20 minutes earlier than it actually does.

5. If you are buying something for us and it comes in pink, get it in pink.

6. Don’t ever tell us we’re “wasting” money on makeup or beauty products and we won’t tell you you’re “wasting” money on your hobbies. We’re not spending $30 on blush for your benefit, we know you can’t tell. Makeup is like our daily art project, just let us decide what tools we want.

7. Sometimes we do things that look painful (waxing, tweezing, etc) but we’re big girls, we can handle it — you don’t need to ask us why we’ll do something that hurts a little bit. Pain is beauty.

8. Girly girls tend to be more traditional than their less girly counterparts in other areas, too. If you’re wondering how to woo one, just think of the old classics: bring her flowers, compliment her, surprise her with a nice dinner — any little gesture that expresses your feelings. They will appreciate it and not think it’s cheesy like others might.

9. We’re totally fine with having separate interests. We aren’t the kind of girl who will feign interest in football or anything else that we aren’t naturally excited about and that’s totally okay. Go off and do your own thing, we’ll have more mystery in our relationship that way.

Mean Girls

10. Pro tip: if you want to have the best eye candy ever, give your girl a gift card to a lingerie store and let her go to town. It’s going to be expensive, but the results will be worth it.

11. You can have a low-maintenance girl or you can have one who looks great all the time. Pick one.

Toddlers and Tiaras

12. No relationship will ever compare to that of a girly girl and her favorite Sephora employee. Respect that friendship, it may end in a discount one day.

13. Don’t make fun of her for taking selfies. Sure, maybe it’s a little bit shallow and narcissistic, but it beats the hell out of low self-esteem and body shaming. If someone’s happy with the way they look, that’s a step in the right direction.

Girl Code

14. Never make fun of our “mascara face.” It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.

15. Sometimes we wear shoes that hurt by the end of the night. Yes this is annoying. It’s also worth it to us or we wouldn’t keep doing it. Heels make you feel sexy and powerful and feminine at the same time. It’s intoxicating — who wouldn’t make this mistake?

16. It’s not that she gets dressed up to go to the gym. It’s just that she makes an extra effort to only own things that are cute so it happens naturally. And why wash off the makeup you’re already wearing just because some people think you shouldn’t wear it to the gym? Since when is that a reason to do something?

Legally Blonde

17. Being a girly girl doesn’t make a woman shallow. Come on. Dudes can appreciate art without being considered vapid but we try it infuse it into our every day lives and we’re ditzes? Nah.

Buhari to face former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will run for re-election in February 2019 against former vice president Atiku Abubakar, a Muslim from the countrys north who was nominated on Sunday as the main opposition partys poll contender.

Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler, was the sole candidate for his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, so his confirmation by some 7,000 delegates gathered in the capital Abuja was a mere formality on Saturday.

The APC swept to power in 2015 with the first opposition victory at the ballot box in the countrys history.

But next years presidential race appears to have tightened in recent months with the APC hit by a wave of defections over Buharis leadership style.

On Sunday, delegates to a convention of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Port Harcourt, nominated Abubakar, 71, as his challenger for next years poll.

Reacting to the nomination, the presidency congratulated Abubakar but added that it noted with interest all the reports in the media as to massive vote-buying at the PDP primaries.

One wonders what such a candidate would do with public funds, the statement added.

ABUBAKAR CAREER

The politician and business tycoon has made four previous bids for the top job in Nigeria, Africas most populous nation.

Abubakar comes from the Muslim-majority north, and his nomination follows an unwritten rule in Nigeria that the presidency should alternate every two terms between a candidate from the north and south.

Despite humble beginnings in northern Nigeria, he rose through the ranks of the customs service for two decades before entering the private sector, investing in oil services and agriculture, among others.

From there he joined the civilian government where he became one of Nigerias most recognisable and enduring politicians.

But he has been dogged by controversies over his numerous wives and more than 20 children as well as corruption allegations.

BUHARIS HEALTH

Buhari, the retired general who headed a military regime in the 1980s, has faced growing pressure to step down because of failing health after spending several months in London last year receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

Dubbed Baba Go Slow because he took six months to appoint cabinet ministers, he has also faced attacks for his handling of the economy, which plunged into recession in 2016.

He has also come under criticism on security issues, including the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast, long-running farmer-herder clashes in the centre and militancy and kidnapping in the south.

Also Sunday, fierce Buhari critic Obiageli Ezekwesili announced that she would throw her hat into the ring for the presidency.

The 55-year-old former minister, who was also the World Banks vice president for Africa from 2007 to 2012, said in a statement that Nigeria was becoming a country where the worth of life is trending down to zero.

Ezekwesili, co-founder of the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International, is best known in Nigeria for creating the BringBackOurGirls movement after Boko Haram jihadists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in 2014.

Also in the running is Donald Duke, the former governor of the southern Cross River state, whose opposition Social Democratic Party formally elected him its flag-bearer on Sunday.

As governor in 2004, Duke initiated the Calabar carnival that is now popularly known as Africas biggest street party.

Nigerian law allows for a president to serve a maximum of two four-year terms.

Voters in the former British colony will elect governors and lawmakers as well as the president in elections set for February and March.

If You’re Reading This, I Miss You

I was driving today and listening to that one Arctic Monkeys song you said made you think of me. The first time you told me it did I didn’t want to tell you that it made me think of you too. That it was one of many on a playlist I sometimes put on repeat when I missed you or during periods we went without speaking. The words maybe I’m too busy being yours to fall for somebody new hit me right in my Achilles heel.

They’re all too true, at least for me. They’ve always been. They’re real now. They’re real when I’ve been in relationships, when I’ve opened up some of myself to someone else, when I’ve had feelings for someone else. I never really completely let the veil slip with them. Always held something back. In reality, there was a part of my heart I never placed in their hands, a part I kept to myself, and a part I would never let anyone grab because it had your name inscribed on it.

We’ve never been together.

But for a good part of the 13 years I’ve known you they’ve held truth .

You’ve always had this pull on me. A part of me has always felt yours, and that’s a word I hate to use.

Even now, after blocking your number and walking away from the endless dance we’ve always been in, they still hold some truth.

Oh, the power of a song (and it’s just one of many.) All day I thought about the countless other things I always wanted to tell you but never could. I know it would be pointless. But I can’t stop myself from thinking them, from feeling them, from wanting to curse them out each window in every room I find myself in. I may break promises I make to myself about not writing about you anymore, but I can’t break the oath I took when I promised myself to end whatever it is we’ve always been. I’ll never speak to you again, and maybe my words will never reach you, but in case you’re still stalking my poetry page, looking up articles of mine on the internet, in case you’re reading this – but really just for my sanity I have to write this.

I loved you for a long time before I ever said it. I think maybe the first time I ever heard your laugh and saw your crooked smile in that math class something in my adolescent brain told me I was doomed. I loved you through the periods we went without speaking. I know it because somehow my mind always swam back to you. You’ve always been there. Treading the shallow waters of my consciousness. Never straying too far from land. I know I loved you because I’d write and somehow you were usually the muse. I loved you through all of my relationships.

Here’s a confession: if you had asked me to I probably would have left them.

A part of me hates you for this because you would have never done the same. And I would have burned a thousand cities to the ground for a chance for our love to be something we could say out loud. A part of me wants to slap you because during the time the stars aligned to be on our side you didn’t step up. A part of me hates you because after the first time you told me you loved me and how much you dreamed about being with me, you ruined it by telling me how you couldn’t hurt her. But for 13 years you repeatedly hurt me. I hate you for making me write about parallel universes and worlds that don’t exist, for talking about a fate you said you believed in – a fate you were never willing to fight for. I hate you for making me do things I never would have with anyone else. For all the lying I helped you do, for all the cheating I helped you do, and for the times I did it myself. I hate you for sometimes making me feel like nothing but a dirty secret. I hate you for dousing me in gasoline and throwing the match in but never sticking around to watch me burn and bleed. I hate you for showing me what it feels like to be inside of the sun when I’ve spent my whole life evolving in darkness. I hate you because I’m afraid I won’t ever find passion like the one that we knew.

I hate you because no one has yet to make me feel the things you did when you touched me.

I hate you because it took me years to realize that I never really existed in your world. That I was always just a secret. That love is never enough. That you could have spit out the most beautiful words, but it didn’t mean they were true. That maybe each time you told me you loved me it made your teeth rot from the lie. That we weren’t ever going anywhere. That there was no reason to having you in my life other than my addiction to ruin and affinity to heartache.

I hate you for leaving me with all the memories. Most of them start the same: me walking into your apartment, not even five seconds passing before we could feel the tension in the air, before you had me pinned up against the wall with a fistful of my hair in your hand. Then there are the ones of us on your living room floor talking about worlds in which we end up together, your thumb caressing the side of my face. In a lot of them it’s us always wine-drunk, palm-to-palm on your couch. There’s so few, yet so many.

Then there are ones when I should’ve used my brain before it was too late. Like that time we were smoking a spliff drinking Red Stripes on the porch the first time I realized that friends too can make you burn. I remember thinking I’m screwed and it wasn’t just because I finally knew what it was like to be a woman in the wake of a man who knew how to fuck, but because you felt like it must feel inside of the sun (and yeah, I wrote a poem about that one.)

I hate you because here I am writing about you once again.

I hate you because I can’t and never will, because I love you and I think a part of me always will.

If you’re reading this, I miss you. I’ll miss more than the chemistry between us. I’ll miss the friend in you that I had. There’s been so many times I’ve wanted to text, to call, when I’ve had bad days, when great things have come my way, when a guy hurt my feelings, when I went on a bad date; there’s been so many times I’ve needed your advice. I think that’s the part I’ll miss the most.

I want you to know I always knew that there would come a point where I wouldn’t have you in my life anymore. It hurts. I’m not ashamed to admit how much. But I’m hoping there will come a tomorrow where I miss you a little less, where I think about you a little less. I’m hoping there will come a day where I kiss someone and don’t think about the way I’d sink my teeth into your bottom lip and the way you did the same. I’m hoping there comes a day I go on a date and you don’t cross my brain. I’m hoping that the next time I allow myself to get close to someone that I don’t hold any of myself back. I hope the next time I place my heart in the hands of someone it will include that small part that used to have your name – that your name will no longer be on it.

I miss you but I want you to know I’m working on not being too busy being yours.

Here’s Why You Need To Stop Questioning Why They Hurt You (And Just Let Them Go)

When someone treats us in a way that creates so many unanswered questions, it can feel impossible to move on.

– I just don’t understand why he did those things?

– Why do I still miss her when she made me feel like that?

– Why do I keep going back to them even though they make me feel like sh**?

– What must have been going through his mind to think that was ok?

– I know there were things wrong but I still wonder if breaking up with her was the right thing?

These are all things I hear from people every day and I totally understand why we create all of this internal anxiety asking ourselves these questions. I know I did.

I spent so much time in a previous relationship asking myself why he would refuse to communicate and then disappear for days on end, why he’d play these crazy emotional mind games 100% knowing how it would make me feel, why I’d often feel like I was being ‘tested’. I also wondered why, when I knew he did all of these things, did I still want to cling to all of that and let go of everything else within my life in pursuit of making this relationship work.

I know a lot of people will resonate with this in their own way. I was on a call with a client last night who had done so much great work on herself since coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship but still questioned why during those vulnerable moments, she missed him.

Like I did, she wanted answers.

The thing is though, no matter how many self help books we devour, articles by psychologists and relationship experts we frantically highlight, and stories we read from other people who have gone through the same thing, the more time we spend analysing and trying to piece together the multitude of layers of someone’s behaviour to be able to conclude a solid reason as to why they did those things, it makes absolutely no difference.

You don’t need to find a reason. They did those things and that’s the only conclusion you need to be able to let your quest for answers go and move forwards.

We always seem to want to get inside the heads of other people but all that does is take the focus away from what’s really important and our most vital responsibility; us. Your ex (or whoever you were seeing that this applies to) did what they did and now your only job is to be ok with the fact that you feel emotionally bruised from it (because that’s inevitable), nurture yourself and take forwards what you learnt from that.

Of course, we’re going to spend time asking questions about why, if someone professed to love us so much, then why did their actions prove quite the contrary? But when we can acknowledge that the answers make absolutely no difference about the fact they did what they did, we can turn our focus inwards and instead, think about what we need to do when it comes to our own self care and emotional wellbeing to be able to build ourselves up after going through this experience.

I totally understand that this is a LOT easier than said than done! But the harsh fact is, if someone treated you in a way that compromised your self-esteem, values and what makes you you, regardless of why they did that, they did and therefore there isn’t a place for them within your lives moving forwards. That should be a non-negotiable. Even if there were moments of almighty amazingness, your job is to still walk away because that isn’t enough. Even if they say they will change, your job is to still walk away. Their job is to SHOW you that there is substance behind their words by working out their own answers.

These situations can become incredibly complex as there is usually a lot of emotional game playing, manipulation and even abuse at play. But the answer to getting the answer you want on it all is quite simple – you need to focus on you. You need to take what you learnt from this experience and give yourself all the things you didn’t get from that person. You need to surround yourself with the people who can offer you the unconditional love and support you didn’t get from that person. You need to remind yourself of all the amazing things that make you uniquely you that that person tried to tear down, change or devalue. You need to think about the warning signs you first ignored for the sake of keeping the relationship going, call BS on the excuses you made and you need to implement new standards as of right now.

All of these things will gradually create that sense of finality or closure you need. You have the choice to create that for yourself and I think that’s a good thing to know.

No Man Who Loves You Will Ever Dim Your Light

No man who loves you will ever try to stomp out your wonder. When you come home with stories, vibrant and alive and speaking fast, he will close his eyes and take in your words. He will touch your hands tenderly, as if absorbing your energy through his skin. He will let your excitement wash over him like a cleansing rain. Patient and still, he will listen with not only his ears, but with his heart.

He won’t cover you with a blanket to hide your presence from the world. He won’t diminish you by acting as if what you say is not important. He won’t shoot you down with a dismissive look and his eyes everywhere else but on your face.

A man who loves you won’t silence your spirit; he will be sparked by your passion.

No man who loves you will try to eclipse you. When you take pride in your accomplishments, he will be the one bragging even more. When you smile with satisfaction at the work you’ve done, he will celebrate you. When you falter or fail, when you’re unsure of your next step, when you’re right on the brink of greatness, he will be the one who motivates you, who pushes you, who encourages you to believe in the strength of your skin.

He won’t overshadow you with his own success, shuffling you behind him so he can stand first. He won’t make himself the centre of attention when the focus should be on you. He won’t be selfish when it’s time to honour all that you’ve done.

A man who loves you won’t try to outshine you, he will let your presence radiate.

No man who loves you will ever pull you into darkness. No matter what happens to him on this journey, he won’t blame you or make you shoulder his pain. He won’t force you to face what he’s battling internally. He will let you in, he will accept your support and love, but he won’t try to drag you down with him.

He won’t cloud your skies with his pain. He won’t treat you as if you’re the one who has broken him, as if you’re somehow responsible for the way he feels. He won’t use his broken spirit to destroy the love and hope in your heart.

A man who loves you won’t try to shade your sparkling world; he will match your radiance with his resilience, and fight against the shadows of this life.

No man who loves you will ever attempt to steal your brightness. Despite the storms, he won’t try to take pieces of you to add light to his world. He won’t use you for his purpose and abandon you when you need him the most.

He won’t see you for what you can offer. He won’t be so focused on himself that he forgets who you are and what you mean to him. He won’t be tempted to take all that you can give.

A man who loves you won’t thieve your flicker; he will set fire to your flame.

No man who loves you will ever dim your light. He will never let the world cover you, let who he is upstage the incredible person you are, let your spark fade out. When life hands you burdens, he won’t weaken you, he won’t run.

He will share his hope with you, his love with you, even his own glow when your spirit gets tired.

A man who loves you won’t darken your brilliance, but let your two souls—together—illuminate the sky.

If You’re Going To Fall In Love, Fall For The Person Who Terrifies You

Life is too short to settle for anything less than big and beautiful love, too short to go for the ‘right’ girl, or the guy that you’re ‘supposed to be with.’ Life is too short to settle, to be unhappy, to sit around wishing for more or wondering if this is as good as it gets.

Life is too short to fall for people who don’t love you loudly, or for relationships that don’t set fire to your soul.

Our time on this earth is impermanent, and in the short years we must love fearlessly.

The best person for you is not always going to toe the line. He or she won’t come wrapped in a perfect package with a neatly-tied bow. He or she won’t smile politely or never speak out of turn or step aside to let you win every argument.

The person you’re meant to be with is not stoic and one-dimensional, seeing you as the centre of the universe and bending his or her ways to accommodate yours.

The person you’re meant to be with will challenge you, will push you, will make you crazy and happy and confused, and show you what real, complicated love is.

The person you’re meant to be with will terrify you because they make you feel something.

So this is what you need to know about love—you must always chase the person who scares you. Don’t settle for comfort because it’s familiar. Don’t be content with what you know because there’s a world out there waiting for you. And life’s too short not to pursue that.

Fall for the person who terrifies you because they have new ways of looking at the world, because they are different, because there is some unexplainable connection that is pulling you back to him or her, no matter how much you try to deny it.

Fall for the person who terrifies you because you feel something when you look into his or her eyes. and because scary is a change, a challenge, and both of those things will help you grow.

Fall for the person who loves and terrifies you because what the hell else is our purpose on this earth than to love and love foolishly, fearlessly, fully?

Life is too short to hold yourself back from feeling something deeply. Life’s too short to deny your heart the pleasure of falling into someone, and giving them your soul. Life’s too short to pretend that you’ll find love where it’s comfortable and easy, because in all reality, love will never be easy. And that’s the most beautiful part.

Life’s too short not to pursue people that scare you, because those people are the ones who will change your life. And we’re all searching for that love that will alter our entire lives.

It’s waiting for you, go get it.