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‘Anonymous’ social networks like Secret fail to provide anonymity

‘Anonymous’ social networks like Secret fail to provide anonymity
Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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Secret was exposed and all it took was some simple social engineering. A report from Wired shows how security researchers from Rhino Security Labs found a devastatingly simple way to expose your friends on Secret.

The hack works by attacking Secret’s reliance on your friends to obscure identities. The app requires at least seven friends in your contacts list before you start seeing secrets from friends.

Secret for iOSRhino Security Labs created a fake secret account and populated its phone’s address book with fake friends. Then they took the victim’s legitimate email address and added him or her to their address book. Using basic deduction, the researchers found out exactly which secrets the victim posted.

Secret was alerted about this loophole and has blocked the attack. “As near as we can tell this hasn’t been exploited in any meaningful way but we have to take action to determine that,” says Secret CEO David Byttow.

This type of attack shouldn’t be surprising. Secret has never promised complete anonymity. “We do not say that you will be completely safe at all times and be completely anonymous,” says Byttow speaking with Wired.

Our editor Chris Park also investigated how anonymous social networking apps like Secret and Whisper know your location, even if your friends don’t.

A new app called Awkward!! tries to ride the success of Secret (Android | iOS) and Whisper (Android | iOS) by offering another way for users to share secrets. Instead of text, users can use Awkward!! to record videos of their confessions. Users control how much to blur their face, but their voices are not obscured. If Awkward!! really wanted to keep users anonymous, they would obscure voices and stop using video since it’s pretty easy to identify a friend, even when blurred.

Awkward TimTim, your beard is a dead giveaway.

What these anonymous-ish apps are trying to achieve is impossible: letting users anonymously vent about their lives while simultaneously bringing them together.

“It’s our job to make sure people feel safe and in control. People can’t do that on Facebook. That’s our mission, so people can put this stuff out there and not feel alone,” says Byttow.

But if you’re anonymous, aren’t you already alone? If you wanted to connect with someone, you’re not going to do it behind a mask. Or in this case, behind an app.

Source: Wired, Softonic DE (Google Translate)

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Lewis Leong

Lewis Leong

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