Security Validation on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger Mobile Applications against GIF Images that Incorporate Executable Code

Abstract

Communication; Every day the messaging applications on mobile devices such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are more common in the life of each user. With this in mind, we ask ourselves the question, how safe are these mobile applications for Android mobile devices? Stenography is a technique that allows to deliver camouflaged messages within an image, so that they cannot be detected and go unnoticed. Most of the research that has been done on this topic has focused only on laptops and PCs. The purpose of this paper was to design a schematic in which we use Steganography to get an idea of how some executable code could be spread instead of simply communicating a secret message. Additional to validate the security of the two most important application on these days which are WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger against image that use the stenography technique. Based on this, a questionnaire was carried out where users' knowledge about security issues in the mobile messaging applications WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger was analyzed. Key Terms - Communication, GIF, Hiding Executable, Security, Smartphones, Steganography.