Internet, sometimes you are just too much. Not only is there an app called Yo, which exists solely for the purpose of sending your friends messages saying ‘Yo’, but it has been hacked.
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Yep, the single-purpose app that has been climbing the app store rankings on the back of US$1-million in funding, succumbed to a security breach today. This comes after a wave of media attention that saw the app pass 700 000 users and 3.6-million ‘Yo’s sent in a single day.
It’s currently ranked number one in free social networking apps in versions of Apple’s App Store like the US, where it is ahead of major apps like WhatsApp and Facebook. It seems all that hype made Yo a perfect target.
According to TechCrunch, the app was hacked by three Georgia Tech college students, who have been able to access Yo users’ phone numbers, send spam yos, and push notifications with any text they’d like.
There have also been reports of a hack which replaces the audio notification (“Yo”) with a version of Rick Astley singing “Never going to give you up“.
But the best has to be this notification (captured on Instagram) which declares “Wow. many 1337. such bad security”, referencing both a hacker term (leet or elite) and everyone’s favourite canine meme, Doge.
While Yo has confirmed the hack, it has not managed to secure the app as yet, which means users’ phone numbers may be vulnerable. Speaking to TechCrunch, creator Or Arbel that “Some of the stuff has been fixed and some we are still working on. We are taking this very seriously.” Watch out, yo.
