Widespread media coverage for Dr Budi Arief on WhatsApp flaw

Dr Arief, from the School of Computing, has been cited in over 250 publications including The Daily Mail, The Scotsman and This is Money since providing a comment about a major security flaw discovered in the popular messaging service WhatsApp.

His comment on the issue was as follows: 'It demonstrates the importance of keeping your software update. I'm not particularly surprised by this development, this happens all the time. This recent vulnerability bears a resemblance to the Apple FaceTime vulnerability discovered earlier this year.

 'At this stage, it is too early to say whether there is any connection between the WhatsApp vulnerability and the FaceTime vulnerability. Software is a very complex system – it's practically impossible to guarantee it is completely bug-free, there are always potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited.'  

As a result of this widespread coverage Dr Arief was invited to appear on TalkRadio on 15 May as an expert to discuss the issue and other key security trends in the technology market

Dr Arief is one of many academics across the University to provide expert comments to the media, issued by the press team within the Corporate Communications department, which can help build the profiles of academics, their school and the University.

Colleagues who would like to learn more about how to contribute their expertise  should contact the Press Office on pressoffice@kent.ac.uk.