Timehop, an add-on app that reminisces people’s good old days on different social media platforms, has suffered a data breach on July 4th, that affected 21 million users.
The stolen data includes names, email addresses, date of the birth, and over 4.7 million users phone number that they linked to their accounts. However, users’ old social media posts « memories » were not compromised.
The hackers were able to enter the Timehop’s cloud computing account, as it was not protected by multi-factor authentication, they transferred the data, and attacked its database.
According to the company, they first noticed the breach within two hours it started and was able to interrupt it, but unfortunately, the user’s data was stolen. Users’ private messages, financial data, social media content, and Timehop data were not affected.
“That stuff is what we cared about, that stuff was protected,” Timehop’s COO Rick Webb said in an interview with TechCrunch. “We have to make a mental note to think about everything else” going forward.
The company has started two-factor authentication on its internal systems and encrypting databases to prevent future breaches.
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