70,000 photographs of women leaked from Tinder onto cyber-crime forum
Approximately 16,000 users of the app appear to be affected, as the forum contained a text file with that number of usernames.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIThe dating app Tinder is shown on an Apple iPhone in this photo illustration taken February 10, 2016(photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE)
Over 70,000 photographs of women from the popular dating app Tinder were leaked onto a cyber-crime forum, according to Gizmodo, an act which has previously led to the abusive usage of said person's personal photos.Approximately 16,000 users of the app appear to be affected, as the forum contained a text file with that number of usernames, Gizmodo learned from New York City's task force on cyber sexual assault member Aaron DeVera. Said task force initially discovered the breach."There is suspicion that the leaked photographs will be used for catfishing, or creating fake social media profiles," said technology manager for information security company ESET Amir Karmi. "There are many criminals who use this technique to trick lonely men and to squeeze large sums of money out of them, as well as various kinds of deviants who take pleasure in virtual relationships from fake accounts."The photographs are currently available online for cybercriminals to use.An additional fear regarding the use of these photographs is that they may be taken by a developer or company to train a facial recognition software.A representative of Tinder told Gizmodo that the company intends to take whatever steps it could to remove the data online. DeVera, however, expressed doubt in their ability to do so.This latest development comes merely one week after it was revealed that personal information of Tinder users was being shared with marketing and advertising companies without their knowledge and in a manner which may violate the privacy regulations of the app."There is a chance that more intimate photographs which are often found on Tinder profiles will be linked to victims' full names, and so there exists a danger of 'Sextortion' in which blackmail messages are sent to the victims which threaten to send the intimate photographs to all of their friends on social media if a ransom is not paid in virtual currencies," Karmi explained.In December, hundreds of women had their intimate photographs leaked on the messenger app Telegram. A total of 12 suspects between ages 17 and 30 were arrested for spreading the pictures, which were both taken with and without different ladies' consent, none of which knew their photographs were being shared online.The phenomenon prompted an immediate investigation by police, who delved into the popular messenger using well-developed and complex cyber strategies in the central headquarters in Tel Aviv. The police were able to penetrate the chat groups and arrest a dozen suspects.While most know the messenger app Telegram for being the platform for the now-busted largest cannabis sales network in Israel, Telegrass, the app is creating a steadily mounting problem of leaked nude photographs. There is no way for the materials to be censored, and there is no way of enforcing rules against nude photographs distributed without consent.According to Israeli law, anyone caught sending such footage without the consent or knowledge of the party involved is put in jail for up to five years."It is important to remember that every image we upload to social media or other services have the chance of being leaked; act accordingly," Karmi concluded.
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