New Delhi, April 2 -- WhatsApp has warned around 200 users who were tricked into downloading a malicious version of the app that contained spyware. According to Italy's Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), the malicious software was developed by an Italian surveillance company SIO that develops surveillance tools for governments via its subsidiary ASIGINT.

The social media giant says that around 200 users were victims of a social engineering attack that tricked them into installing this malicious version of WhatsApp.

In a statement to ANSA, Meta said, "Our security team identified around 200 users, most of them in Italy, who we believe may have downloaded this unofficial and malicious client. We logged them out and warned them abo...