WhatsApp issues cease and desist notice to companies cloning its app, using software to overcome forwarding restrictions

WhatsApp claims to have sent out cease and desist letters to clones offering to allows users software hacks to bypass the app's forwarding restrictions.A recent report explained how modified versions of WhatsApp, bundled with other software tools to manage the application were being doled out to digital marketers and political activists, helping them bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the Facebook-owned company. These tools were being offered to seekers for as less as Rs 1,000.In response to the report, a WhatsApp spokesperson in a statement to IANS said that the messaging platform had sent cease and desist letters to companies claiming to offer the modified version of WhatsApp that bypasses the forward restrictions.[caption id="attachment_5896491" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

A logo of WhatsApp is pictured on a T-shirt worn by a WhatsApp-representative. Reuters[/caption]“We have been stepping up our ability to identify and ban accounts engaged in abuse, including bulk or automated messages. We ban approximately two million accounts for such abuse and have sent cease and desist letters to companies claiming to offer such services,” the company spokesperson said.WhatsApp said that the initiative reduced the number of forwarded messages on the platform by over 25 percent. With regards to companies sending bulk messages, WhatsApp says it asks them to cease operations and reserves all rights available to them under applicable law.The report also arrives days after a WhatsApp malicious spyware was discovered which allowed hackers to sneakily install malware in the background during a WhatsApp voice call.Despite following the Code of Ethics set by the Election Commission of India, releasing regular advertisements and conducting knowledge drives over the last few months, WhatsApp appears to be unable to root out all its problems.