Tens of thousands of pictures have been obtained by hackers from Snapchat users, and some have apparently already been posted on 4chan and other websites.
The hackers say that they obtained the pictures through an app linked to Snapchat, which allows users to save pictures for a longer time than the service typically allows.
The third-party Snapchat client app “has been collecting every single photo and video file sent through it for years, giving hackers access to a 13GB library of Snapchats that users thought had been deleted,” noted Business Insider.
The app has been reported as Snapsave, though developer Georgie Casey denied the applications.
An anonymous photo trader said on 4chan that the app is actually SnapSaved.
“The service acted as a web client for the Snapchat app that allowed users to receive photos and videos, and save them online. What its users didn’t realize was that the site was quietly collecting everything that passed through it, storing incriminating Snapchats on a web server, with the usernames of senders attached,” BI noted.
The hack means tens of thousands of pictures that Snapchat users thought were gone are actually starting to circulate online, appearing on 4chan and other websites such as Viral Pop.
4chan users told blogger Kenny Withers, who appears to have first reported on the hack, that “their original plan was, and continues to be, to take the leaked images and database that they hacked, and create a website where anyone will be able to search for their favorite snapchatter for nude pictures. They have set a temporary deadline of October 12, 2014.”
Hackers discussing the pictures on 4chan said that about 200,000 pictures will be appearing online soon.
Hackers said that the pictures are both from the sent and received usernames.
And one said that there are lots of nude pictures among the trove. “There are a lot of dick pics,” said one. “Just a warning.”
