A group of hackers has posted what it claims are the usernames and phone numbers of 4.6 million users of the ephemeral messaging app on a website.
The site, SnapchatDB, containing the details of US Snapchat users, has since been pulled. The hackers stated they were motivated to hack Snapchat and to publish the information in order to raise awareness of the service's vulnerabilities.
While still live, a post on the site read: "This information was acquired through the recently patched Snapchat exploit and is being shared with the public to raise awareness on the issue. The company was too reluctant at patching the exploit until they knew it was too late and companies that we trust with our information should be more careful when dealing with it."
The hackers also said that they had censored the final two digits of each compromised phone number in order to "minimize spam and abuse."While still live, a post on the site read: "This information was acquired through the recently patched Snapchat exploit and is being shared with the public to raise awareness on the issue. The company was too reluctant at patching the exploit until they knew it was too late and companies that we trust with our information should be more careful when dealing with it."
Despite the fact that the site is now offline, Snapchat users who are concerned that their details are within the list can use a site called GS Lookup to make sure. Simply enter your Snapchat username and hit enter and the site will tell you if your details have been hacked.
If they have, you can delete your Snapchat account -- this will stop anyone else using it and pretending to be you, but, as the site explains, this won't stop nefarious individuals from being able to use your phone number. The only way to prevent that is to contact your network operator and request a new phone number. LINK
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