Not even a day into 2014 and we already seem to have a security scandal on our hands, this time with Snapchat stepping into the limelight. Just a few days after exploits for the social media service were announced by a security group, roughly 4.6 million users’ phone numbers and login details have been posted online. To make matters worse, Snapchat has reportedly ignored the potential issues for months leading up to the information being published by Gibson Security, as far back as August.
Now, an online web portal is claiming to allow access to users names and linked phone numbers, albeit the last two digits of the phone number being erased. Since most people use the same user name on different social networks, it wouldn’t take long for a person to find your actual, full phone number though.
Reports are currently suggesting that only certain area codes are affected and that it may be limited to the US at this time but the news is serious nonetheless. You should consider changing your username and password on sites with similar login information if you fall under the category of people with the same login information on multiple sites.
Snapchat has addressed the issue with a blog post but the issue has been ignored apparently since August, an issue in itself which isn’t to be taken lightly. Where does this leave you though? If you are a Snapchat user, are you now done using the service?
Source: Snapchat (blog) via Engadget
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