Tea App Hacked: 13,000 Women’s Photos And Ids Leaked

Women’s-only Tea app suffers awesome information breach, pinch hackers leaking thousands of delicate images and IDs online, sparking world privateness concerns.

A awesome information breach has rocked nan viral women’s-only Tea app, pinch hackers reportedly leaking much than 13,000 selfies and authorities ID photos online – astir of which belonged to women seeking a safer online space.

Tea, designed arsenic a level for women to emblem toxic behaviour from men, confirmed connected July 25, that hackers had breached a database containing complete 72,000 images, including verification selfies and ID scans from its personification base.

The platform, which precocious topped nan Apple App Store rankings, roseate to fame for allowing users to anonymously search, rate, and remark connected men – labelling them “red flags” aliases “green flags.”

“Protecting our users’ privateness and information is our highest priority. Tea is taking each basal measurement to guarantee nan information of our level and forestall further exposure,” a Tea spokesperson told NBC News.

How was nan Tea app hacked?

The leak appears to person been coordinated via a 4Chan thread, pinch users calling for a “hack and leak” run against nan app. On Friday morning, a 4Chan personification posted a downloadable nexus to nan stolen image database, and recognition photos quickly began circulating connected some 4Chan and X.

Tea has blamed nan breach connected an aged database, primitively created successful statement pinch cyberbullying prevention requirements. Despite this, personification selfies were expected to beryllium deleted aft verification, and screenshots of in-app contented were blocked.

The platform’s creator, Sean Cook, has antecedently stated that Tea was inspired by his mother’s traumatic online making love experiences, including unknowingly making love men pinch criminal records.

Tea users’ messages and locations besides compromised

On July 28, 404 Media reported that a 2nd vulnerability had allowed entree to complete 1.1 cardinal nonstop messages (DMs), immoderate of which contained highly individual accusation that could place users.

“As portion of our ongoing investigation… we person precocious learned that immoderate nonstop messages (DMs) were accessed,” Tea confirmed to NBC News, adding that nan affected strategy had since been taken offline.

Cybersecurity interrogator Kasra Rahjerdi, who discovered nan DM breach, said others had accessed nan database earlier him, though it remains unclear if they downloaded nan data.

Additionally, Google Maps was utilized to stock a representation showing expected Tea personification locations linked to nan leak. Notably, nan coordinates were anonymous and did not see names.

The institution says it is identifying affected users and will connection free personality protection services. Tea besides claims to donate 10 per cent of its profits to nan National Domestic Violence Hotline, which confirmed nan institution arsenic a morganatic philanthropist to NBC News.

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