Image messaging mobile application Snapchat hasn’t been having a good time. The company’s app store ratings took a steep dive on April 16 after a report emerged claiming CEO Evan Spiegel called India a “poor country.” Now, rumours are emerging that a certain group of hackers have also leaked over a million stolen Snapchat accounts in retaliation.
According to a report from The Daily Mail, a group of Indian hackers has allegedly leaked a database of 1.7 million Snapchat users on the Dark Web. Supposedly, the group had orchestrated the hack some time last year, as part of a white hat operation to find exploits in the software. The report seems to indicate that the group is one of the top bug bounty research teams, which combs through the portals and softwares of services to find vulnerabilities, in exchange for rewards.
Now, the report alleges the hackers have leaked the previously unused data for free, in order to show their displeasure for Spiegel’s comments. However, Snapchat is yet to confirm any successful data breach, and we haven’t yet been able to confirm either, so take the claims with a pinch of salt. We’ll update when we know more.
In the meantime, Snapchat’s app ratings on both Android and iOS have plummeted to the lowest possible score in India, while even being downgraded to at least a 2 out of 5 in the US, ever since the original report. #BoycottSnapchat and #Uninstall_Snapchat have both been trending on Twitter over the weekend, as Indians and Spaniards alike express their outrage against being termed “poor countries.”
Snapchat has since denied the report, calling it “ridiculous”, claiming that the story was made up by a “disgruntled former employee” and that the company is “grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world.”
(source: India Times)