Newly Discovered Snapchat Weakness Could Allow Hackers To Crash Your Phone

 Jordan Crook (@jordanrcrook)

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/07/newly-discovered-snapchat-weakness-could-allow-hackers-to-crash-your-phone/

With great power comes great responsibility, and as Snapchat continues to grow rapidly, security researchers grow increasingly interested in the security of the platform.

Security researcher Jamie Sanchez has today exposed a vulnerability within Snapchat that opens up the app to a denial-of-service attack. By overloading an inbox with messages, hackers can freeze and crash the iPhone, requiring the user to reset their device. For Android devices, the attack doesn’t crash the device, but does make it noticeably slower, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We are working to resolve the issue and will be reaching out to the security researcher who publicized the attack to learn more,” said Snapchat in a statement.

Trouble With Teens Could Trip Up Today’s Facebook Earnings

Posted Jan 29, 2014 by Josh Constine (@joshconstine

When Facebook mentioned “a decrease in daily users specifically among younger teens” in last quarter’s earnings call, its share price fell from $57.98 in after-hours trading to open the next day at $47.16, eliminating tens of billions of dollars in value accrued from strong financials. How will investors react if today’s Q4 2013 earnings see Facebook admit a more serious decline amongst youngsters?

It’s a grim question considering that despite security breaches, Snapchat seems to still be growing strong with teens. Meanwhile, international messaging apps popular with kids appear to have maintained their momentum. It’s critical to understand that these competitors aren’t going to replace Facebook. They’re discrete apps that perform a very specific messaging function. Facebook is a full-fledged social network and identity provider. The threat isn’t Snapchat or WhatsApp destroying Facebook the way Facebook destroyed Myspace, it’s them stealing monetizable time away from Mark Zuckerberg’s creation.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/teens-using-facebook/

Snapchat apologizes for leaked user data, updates app to let you opt out of 'Find Friends'

By Ellis Hamburger on January 9, 2014 10:03 am Email @hamburger

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Snapchat today rolled out the security fix it promised last week, which lets users opt out of the app's "Find Friends" feature. The feature, which let users plug in their phone number to find friends using the app, was the root of the leaking of 4.6 million phone numbers and usernames on New Year's Day. In a blog post, the company apologized for the first time, and re-emphasized that the leak resulted from the abuse of its API, and not from its servers being hacked. To access the new feature that lets you opt out of Find Friends, head over to the app's Setting page and tap "Mobile #."

4.6M Snapchat Usernames, Phone Numbers Leaked Online

The usernames and phone numbers for 4.6 million Snapchat accounts were temporarily posted online by hackers who took advantage of a previously disclosed vulnerability within the chat service.

SnapchatDB.info went live last night and allowed visitors to download the database of Snapchat user info, though the last two digits of the phone numbers were censored "in order to minimize spam and abuse."

The site has since been pulled offline (because the hosting provider was "intimidated by the overwhelming attention," SnapchatDB told The Verge), but a cached version is still available.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428897,00.asp

Phone app, Snapchat, experiences security breach

Posted: Jan 01, 2014 5:43 PM CSTUpdated: Jan 01, 2014 5:43 PM CST

Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel. (Photo courtesy of cellanr via Flickr)

CHICAGO, Ill. (FOX 32 News) -

The social media app called Snapchat has been hacked.

The app prides itself on keeping users photo and video messages private by putting a time limit on how long someone can view them.

Read more: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/24343711/phone-app-snapchat-experiences-security-breach#ixzz2pH3Pd5tz

Snapchat ignored security hole that lets hackers ID phone numbers

Snapchat users may be in for a not-so-pleasant surprise this Christmas.

Hackers could gain access to the phone numbers and names of the app's users because of a loophole in its coding and API (application programming interface), a new report from online security firm Gibson Security has revealed.

'People could ... pay a few dollars and obtain the phone number and social media profiles of a person, just by their username.'

- Gibson Security

Snapchat was made aware of this security glitch in August, but ignored it. Gibson Security claim users of the photo messaging application would have their names, aliases and phone numbers discovered via the Snapchat and iOS API -- even if the user's account is private,reports ZDnet. Gibson Security told ZDNet that hackers could "automatically build profiles about users, which could be sold for a lot of money."

Snapchat users may be in for a not-so-pleasant surprise this Christmas.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/12/27/snapchat-ignored-security-hole-hackers-phone-numbers/?intcmp=related

Kids Love Snapchat Because They See Facebook Like Adults See LinkedIn

Kids are in a petri dish, where their every social post can be scrutinized and used against them. That’s why disappearing media startup Snapchat is important, says its investor, Benchmark‘s Bill Gurley. Teens don’t want their daily lives permanently recorded. Gurley said at TechCrunch Disrupt Europe in Berlin that Snapchat board member Mitch Lasky’s kids tell him they view Facebook like adults view LinkedIn.

It’s the lack of this understanding that’s led many people to discountSnapchat and deride it as merely a sexting service. The app lets you send one or a few friends a photo or video that disappears within 10 seconds, making it great for sharing silly shots or a current window into your world.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/28/why-ephemeral-tech-is-here-to-stay/

Rise of Snapchat: Do you want an erasable Internet?

By Zach Epstein

Published December 23, 2013

BGR

As Google’s share price soars beyond $1,100, it seems like nothing can stop the Internet juggernaut as its land grab strategies continue to win over the eyes of its users and the wallets of its advertising clients.

But an analysis published over the weekend by The Wall Street Journal’s Farhad Manjoo raises an interesting question surrounding a new business model that could someday lead to Google’s downfall.Do we want an erasable Internet?

Do we want to live on that Erasable Internet, the Snapchat Internet, instead of the Internet built by Facebook and Google?

Companies like Google and Facebook have built an Internet based on permanence. You send messages, search for things, share status updates, post photos, visit places, and so on, and these companies store all of that data and use it to make money. Oversimplified though it may be, this explanation of Google and Facebook’s businesses explain why the idea of a product like Snapchat is extremely dangerous for these companies.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/12/23/rise-snapchat-do-want-erasable-internet/?cmpid=NL_fntop