Viral women’s dating app hacking: Private messages related to abortion, cheating on Tea exposed

Tea

, the viral women's dating safety app, has indicated that the recent cyberattack, which initially saw approximately 72,000 images accessed, is more extensive than previously reported. As a precautionary measure, the app has disabled its direct messaging (DM) feature following another report which claims that the critical flaw allowed unauthorised access to highly sensitive user communications, including discussions about abortions, cheating partners and even shared phone numbers.In response to the latest revelations, Tea announced via its Instagram account, “The Tea Party Girls,” that it had taken “the affected system offline” out of “an abundance of caution,” acknowledging that “some direct messages (DMs) were accessed as part of the initial incident.”According to a report from 404 Media, the leaked direct messages are incredibly sensitive. Examples cited by the publication include a user discovering their husband being discussed on the app, a woman contacting others about her fiance, and numerous conversations about abortions. The chats also frequently contained damning accusations against individuals, and the publication says that it found it “very easy” to determine the real identities of many participants or those being discussed.

What is the app all about and who hacked it

Tea’s core premise is to provide an anonymous space for women to exchange information about men for safety purposes, verifying users' identities through selfies upon account creation. The app gained popularity and quickly became one of the top apps on the App Store in the US. However, the app has been plagued by security issues since its rise to popularity. A previous report by the same publication claimed that members of the 4chan forum had found an exposed Tea database containing user selfies and driver’s licenses, which were then posted online. A Tea spokesperson told 404 Media on Tuesday that the company's team remains “fully engaged in strengthening the Tea App’s security” and that they are “working to identify any users whose personal information was involved” to offer them free identity protection services.