Millions of people's 'intimate' location data stolen in major hack
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Millions of people using some of the world's most popular apps may have had their locations leaked in a major hack. Tinder, Spotify, Citymapper, Mumsnet and Sky News were among hundreds of companies named in a sample list of apps linked to the breach. Hackers appear to have targeted a US location tracking firm Gravy Analytics. It collects information through smartphones, including peoples' precise movements, and then provides it to other companies or governments.
More than 10 terabytes of data is thought to have been stolen, with Russian-speaking hackers sharing a sample of the stolen information on a well-known hacking forum. Baptiste Robert, founder of Predicta Lab, a company that provides tools for online privacy and security, analysed the sample and was able to easily identify individuals around military bases and government offices, as well as details about people's homes and family lives.
He also told Sky News the apps named in the leak weren't necessarily working with Gravy Analytics. Instead, he said, software development kits used in the apps appeared to be sending off users' location data. Graeme Stewart, from cyber security firm Check Point, told Sky News: "This is a new type of hack.
"It's not just your personal details, it's really quite intimate details about your life and what you're doing and how you're doing it.". The company at the centre of the hack, Gravy Analytics, sells the data of thousands of apps used all around the world.
