Research argues that Meta-owned apps are the most vulnerable to cyberattacks

TechShielder conducted a review of ten popular apps in the social, entertainment, and communication categories to determine which are the most likely to be hacked and what types of user data that they store are at risk of being compromised.

According to the study, the average number of Google searches each app receives about being hacked indicates its vulnerability to cybercrime. Facebook ranks first with an average of 550,000 monthly searches for ‘Facebook hacked.’ Following that, there are 246,000 searches for ‘Instagram hacked’ and 135,000 for ‘WhatsApp hacked.’

With 49,500 and 27,100 searches, respectively, Snapchat and Twitch round out the top five. Netflix, YouTube, Telegram, Twitter, and Meta’s Messenger app were also included in the study. All of the apps reviewed by TechShielder store user email addresses and phone numbers, according to the company. Most collect names, credit card information, and cookies, which can provide a “in-depth” look into users’ online lives.

The survey also showed that Meta-owned products have the most information on their users when compared to other popular apps, whilst Telegram has the least.