Hacker exposes Grindr users’ intimate information and explicit photos

A popular smartphone app used by the gay community to hook-up with similarly-minded people in their vicinity suffers from a serious security vulnerability that could expose personal information and explicit photos that they have been sent.

At least that’s the claim being made in The Sydney Morning Herald today.

If you’re not familiar with it, Grindr takes the hassle out of finding new acquaintances in your neighbourhood. So, if you’re looking for gay guys or gals in your vicinity a quick ping on Grindr will not only show you their photographs and details, but also how many feet away they are from you.

Before you know it, you’re flirting with a complete stranger and they’re sharing their precise location with your smartphone. At least, that’s what I’m led to believe.

If you think that would be a niche…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.