SOCIAL PHOTOBOOTH Snapchat has apologised to its users for the hacking attack on it and them last week.
A week after facing the issue and being fairly dismissive of it the firm has issued an apology and delivered a new version of its app that should prevent further exploits.
The hacking attack on four million Snapchat users was revealed at the end of 2013 on a website called SnapchatDB that has since been closed down. Snapchat initially reacted to the attack and its users' reactions to it by saying that it wasn't a big deal.
"We acknowledged in a blog post last Friday that it was possible for an attacker to use the functionality of Find Friends to upload a large number of random phone numbers and match them with Snapchat usernames," it said.
"On New Years Eve, an attacker released a database of partially redacted phone numbers and usernames. No other information, including Snaps, was leaked or accessed in these attacks."
At that time Snapchat also promised to update its app, and now it has delivered on that. The app adds more control over the Find Friends feature and lets people opt out of associating a phone number with an email address.
It was Snapchat's Find Friends feature that was exploited earlier this month. The updated feature can be found under the Settings options.
"Our team continues to make improvements to the Snapchat service to prevent future attempts to abuse our API," said Snapchat in its overdue apology.
"We are sorry for any problems this issue may have caused you and we really appreciate your patience and support." µ
A week after facing the issue and being fairly dismissive of it the firm has issued an apology and delivered a new version of its app that should prevent further exploits.
The hacking attack on four million Snapchat users was revealed at the end of 2013 on a website called SnapchatDB that has since been closed down. Snapchat initially reacted to the attack and its users' reactions to it by saying that it wasn't a big deal.
"We acknowledged in a blog post last Friday that it was possible for an attacker to use the functionality of Find Friends to upload a large number of random phone numbers and match them with Snapchat usernames," it said.
"On New Years Eve, an attacker released a database of partially redacted phone numbers and usernames. No other information, including Snaps, was leaked or accessed in these attacks."
At that time Snapchat also promised to update its app, and now it has delivered on that. The app adds more control over the Find Friends feature and lets people opt out of associating a phone number with an email address.
It was Snapchat's Find Friends feature that was exploited earlier this month. The updated feature can be found under the Settings options.
"Our team continues to make improvements to the Snapchat service to prevent future attempts to abuse our API," said Snapchat in its overdue apology.
"We are sorry for any problems this issue may have caused you and we really appreciate your patience and support." µ
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