Snapchat Was Hacked and This is Very Bad News For 4.6 Million of You (Updated)
Lesson: If you don't want someone to see your pics, don't take them.
via giphy.com
The inevitable happened: Snapchat has been hacked. The wildly popular mobile app allows its users to send photos and videos that disappear after just ten seconds. So, tons of sexts. TONS.
The hackers were able to access the phone numbers and usernames of 4.6 million people and PUBLISHED them online. This is terrible, terrible news for those of us who have sent a certain kind of photo to a very special someone. Not that we've done anything like that, of course.
According to TechCrunch, the grinches who did this were motivated by the app's lack of security. They explained in a statement, "Our motivation behind the release was to raise the public awareness around the issue. It is understandable that tech startups have limited resources but security and privacy should not be a secondary goal. Security matters as much as user experience does."
No thank you, dudes.
Update: Friday, 9:15 a.m. -- Snapchat's CEO, Evan Spiegel, spoke out on the security breach on Friday's Today show. The 23-year-old said, "A tool that we developed to help Snapchatters find their friends was used by someone to find the usernames of someone who wasn't their friends. This person had 4.6 million friends in their address book, and they were able to match those phone numbers to usernames and release that lease," he said.
The numbers, which appeared on a website called "Snapchat DB" has since been taken down. According to Today, Spiegel was warned of the app's security vulnerability just days before the hack. Users can now download an update to the app, which the company says addresses the security loopholes.
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Hallie has worked in beauty editorial for ten years and has been editorial director at Byrdie since 2021. Previously, she was a senior editor at Byrdie since 2016. During her time at Byrdie, she's written hundreds of high-performing stories on skincare, wellness (including fitness, diet, mental health, body image, et al) makeup, and hair. She's a regular on set, helping to source inspiration for makeup and hair looks, as well as interviewing celebrities, models, and other notable women and men in the beauty space.
Before that, Hallie ran Marie Claire's social media and wrote beauty and culture stories for the site, and helped launch Time Inc.'s digital-only beauty brand, MIMI. After college, she contributed to Time Out New York’s Shopping & Style section before landing her first beauty editor gig at Hearst's Real Beauty. Hallie's writing has also appeared in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. Hallie graduated with a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.