Tea app takes messaging system offline after second security issue reported

Tea a dating discussion app that not long ago suffered a high-profile cybersecurity breach disclosed late Monday that several direct messages were also accessed in the development The app designed to let women safely discuss men they date rocketed to the top of the U S Apple App Store last week but then verified on Friday that thousands of selfies and photo IDs of registered users were exposed in a digital shield breach Media was the first to record on this second safety issue citing an independent shield researcher who discovered it was practicable for hackers to access messages between users discussing abortions cheating partners and phone numbers In a message posted on its social media accounts Tea reported it lately learned that a few direct messages DMs were accessed as part of the initial situation Out of an abundance of caution we have taken the affected system offline the app announced At this time we have unveiled no evidence of access to other parts of our climate It is as of now unknown how numerous messages were left exposed by the vulnerability Tea disclosed it is working to identify any users whose personal information was involved and will be offering free identity protection services to those individuals The company noted Tuesday it will share more information as it becomes available Because of the nature of the app which allows women to anonymously discuss sensitive information about the men they date users may be particularly vulnerable to malicious actors who try to expose their real-life identities Mary Ann Miller vice president of client experience at identity verification company Prove commented the women who may have had their information compromised should consider making sure they have real-life defense precautions in place such as cameras locks and common sense things that you and I think about to be safe and secure in our own home The average citizen puts more out there in a public-facing view that can put their safety at vulnerability And I think it s time for all of us to think about that more systematically she commented Companies meanwhile should look for equipment that utilizes other forms besides IDs to verify an identity and only store essential statistics and discard securely verification details that s no longer needed once a person is verified Tea has stated about images were leaked online in the initial affair including images of selfies or selfies featuring a photo identification that users submitted during account verification Another images publicly viewable in the app from posts comments and direct messages were also accessed without authorization a spokesperson announced last week No email addresses or phone numbers were accessed the company stated and the breach only affects users who signed up before February