Right after Christmas, 4.6 million people received a special gift from a group of hackers. 4.6 million people had their usernames, phone numbers, and their region area displayed on http://www.snapchatdb.info/. The last two digits of the phone numbers had an "x", but anyone can figure out the numbers with trials of combinations. To see if your information was leaked, click here. Unfortunately, even if you delete your snapchat, your phone number still remains on the list. Some people wonder why this leak hurts anyone at all, but by having the information of the snapchatter, hackers can use that information to get into other accounts connected to that phone number. For example, Google accounts, Facebook, and other sources of social media connected to that number can be accessed. Read this article for more information about this leak. To read more about the dangers of this leak, click here.
After hearing about the leak I checked to see if I was on the list: and I was. I took down my phone number from all my other social media accounts. This leak made me think about the security of my information on all my social media accounts. Chris Gayomali of "The Week" writes:
Snapchat is a messaging service that destroys pictures after they are sent. It is very popular. The company prides itself on security and privacy, and maintaining the trust of its users is paramount to its success.
Knowing that even Snapchat, a company that "prides itself on security and privacy" got hacked, worries me about the amount of security Americans have in all their accounts, from snapchat to the bank.
How much security do you think Americans really have? Do we have full control over our own accounts? If not, will we ever?
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