How To: Over 4 Million Snapchat Accounts Have Been Compromised—Is Yours One of Them?

Just days after news spread that Snapchat could be exploited by spammers, an anonymous group of hackers have released the private information of over 4 million users of the popular photo-sharing application.

Containing both username and phone number pairings, SnapchatDB! has information for over 4.6 million users, which anyone can download from their site. The hack is a testament to Snapchat's negligence on taking preventive measures for this type of attack, and caring for their users' privacy, which the anonymous hackers wish to bring to light with this leak.

While the leak affects over half of Snapchat's users, the phone numbers on the website are obfuscated, with the last two digits blocked out—quite possibly as a sign that the hackers mean no harm, just merely a warning for Snapchat.

If you want to check out if you've been compromised, you can head over to GS Lookup - Snapchat, a site created by GibsonSec, who revealed the vulnerabilities in Snapchat's system (but did not release the information themselves). Just enter your Snapchat username and see if your data has been leaked. As a user of Snapchat, I was relieved to know that my phone number wasn't released, but unfortunately I know others who can't say the same.

The reason for why some accounts were hacked and others weren't is merely because the attacks were geared towards only certain area codes across the United States and Canada, with 76 of them falling victim.

If your information was leaked, you can delete your Snapchat account, but that won't remove your phone number from SnapchatDB!'s already leaked list. None of the information released has been used in a malicious manner, so there's no reason to worry... yet.

Hopefully Snapchat gets their ass up off of the couch and handles this issue so that no more leaks occur.