Regularly hacked, apps and dating sites contain confidential information that can be very compromising if disclosed. Some precautions are necessary to use them…
Having your personal data hacked is never good news, and yet it happens more often than you think. Whether it is the successive hacks of the LastPast password manager in 2022, the intrusions at PayPal or the theft of data at Norton, users find themselves exposed to large-scale phishing operations. But imagine if it was particularly sensitive and compromising information, which we could recover on dating applications or slightly naughty sites? This is what happened to CityJerks and TruckerSucker, two libertine sites with particular practices, which were hacked, as reported TechCrunch. Indeed, Troy Hunt, a computer security researcher and the site’s founder Have I Been Pwneddiscovered that cybercriminals had managed in February to seize a large database of more than 80,000 users of the two platforms, before putting it on sale on a Dark Web forum.
And as much to say that the data is compromising to say the least, since it contains usernames, e-mail addresses, passwords, profile photos, sexual orientation, date of birth, city of residence, IP addresses, biographies of users and even… private messages of a sexual nature and other classified ads. The kind of things we would not like to see made public and which can be used by malicious people to organize sophisticated phishing campaigns, but also to trace the identity of users in order to blackmail them or blacklist them…
Dating site hacking: sometimes dramatic consequences
Make no mistake, this is not an isolated case, and there are several such cases. Thus, in 2021, MeetMindful dating site had seen the personal data of 2.28 million users being stolen. Fortunately, the hackers had failed to seize sensitive data. But it’s not always the case ! Also in 2021, a hacker put 629,000 profiles from the dating app on sale french Waiter, including L’age, first name, gender, country of residence, but also sexual orientation, level of education, height, weight or the type of relationship sought. Sometimes the consequences can be dramatic. Thus, in 2015, the hacking of the adulterous dating site Ashley Madison, which resulted in the publication of data from 33 million accounts, led to numerous separations and divorces. Some users had to pay thousands of dollars to hide their registration on the site from their wives. Others had to quit their jobs, and several clients ended up committing suicide. Right away, it makes you smile a lot less.
When you register on any dating site, you should keep in mind that anything you reveal about yourself can be found freely on the Internet. In the case of CityJerks and TruckerSucker, Troy Hunt found that “stolen passwords are protected with a weak algorithm that could be bypassed and allow hackers to access them”. And if, since the Ashley Madison scandal, most sites are doing their best to protect their servers, users must absolutely do the same. Also, remember to use an email address dedicated to this kind of activity, and not your professional, personal or family email. Above all, do not indicate your first and last name. Next, you need to choose a long and complex password that, of course, you don’t use for other accounts. In the event that the site in question could be compromising – to each his own little pleasures… – be sure to give as little information as possible about your personal life, using a pseudonym, slightly faking your date of birth and not not indicating your true place of residence. In short, nothing that cannot be traced back to you by cross-referencing the data!