Users of the ephemeral photo and video sharing service Snapchat face the embarrassment of their photos being posted online, after hackers threatened to out 200,000 explicit personal images.
Following the iCloud nude celebrity photo scandal, users of the 4Chan message board have now claimed a seized haul of images will be sent out across the web on October 12.
The leak is believed to have hit Snapchat users who employ the third-party Snapsave to store photos and videos that would otherwise disappear from the device if using the official Snapchat app.
Snapchat claims its servers were not hacked a part of the leak and claims users have been “victimised” by the use of third party apps. Basically, the company said, by using prohibited apps, the users are at fault for the leaks.
A statement from the company read: “We can confirm that Snapchat’s servers were never breached and were not the source of these leaks. Snapchatters were victimised by their use of third-party apps to send and receive Snaps, a practice that we expressly prohibit in our Terms of Use precisely because they compromise our users’ security. We vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed.”
According to reports on Friday, the haul of images has already been uploaded to the internet, with a download link shared online. The link has now gone offline.
The fear for Snapchat and its users is the large volume of children who use the app to exchange messages. More than half of the firm’s users are aged between 13 and 17. The potential ramifications do not bear thinking about here. Some online users are claiming the 4Chan claim is a hoax. Most folks will be hoping they are correct.
It’s not the first time Snapchat has been the subject of a dangerous security breach. At the start of 2014, 4.6m users personal details were placed online.
Read more: Apple to up iCloud security following nude photo leak
Via: BBC
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
