The Latest in IT Security

The phone numbers and usernames of more than 4.6 million North American Snapchat users have been leaked online. SnapchatDB, an unofficial site run by an anonymous individual or group, allows open access to two files — one an SQL dump, one CSV text — that show details of the photo-sharing apps users alongside their location. Usernames are presented unedited, and SnapchatDB notes that people tend to use the same username around the web. Those that download the information, it says, can try to find phone number information associated with Facebook and Twitter accounts, or simply to figure out the phone numbers of people you wish to get in touch with. SnapchatDB says the information represents the  vast majority of Snapchat users information, but an estimate of Snapchats user base based on a Pew Research Center study suggests that claim may be false. Early explorers of the data have also reported the database is incomplete. Reddit users report that the area codes represented show that all affected users are based in North America, with only 76 of the 322 area codes in the United States appearing in the leaked database, alongside another two Canadian area codes.