Snapchat urges users to stay away from third-party apps after recent security breach

12 Nov 2014

Photo-messaging service Snapchat has introduced new measures in its attempt to ensure users stay away from potentially dangerous third-party apps.

The move has come a month after hundreds of thousands of images sent via Snapchat were posted online in a leak dubbed ‘The Snappening’. Hackers obtained the pictures by targeting the website Snapsaved.com, a third-party service that allowed the app to be used on a desktop computer.

Snapchat will now notify users when a third-party app has been detected before requesting they change their password and cease using the unauthorised service.

In a new blog post, the company wrote, “We’ve enjoyed some of the ways that developers have tried to make Snapchat better. Unfortunately, some developers build services that trick Snapchatters and compromise their accounts.”

Since ‘The Snappening’, Snapsaved.com has ceased operations, replacing its homepage with a search bar that allows Snapchat users to find out if their images were part of the leak, a video taken from TV show South Park of BP CEO Tony Hayward apologising, and, curiously, the song Blame It On The Night by electronic music producer Calvin Harris.

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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