In this interview, McAfee online security expert Robert Siciliano discusses the recent large‑scale Snapchat data breach dubbed the "Snapening," where roughly 100,000 photos and videos were leaked. He explains that third‑party applications, which violate Snapchat’s terms of service, capture and store snaps, undermining the platform’s claim that content disappears after a short time. Siciliano highlights the severe legal implications of teenagers sharing nude images, classifying such content as child pornography even when shared among peers, and warns parents about the lasting digital footprint. He outlines how law enforcement can trace hackers through IP addresses, leaked emails, or usernames, but cautions against relying solely on authorities. Siciliano criticizes Snapchat’s response, arguing the company should implement stronger internal safeguards rather than blaming third‑party apps. He concludes with practical security advice: avoid sharing risky content, keep devices and software updated, use antivirus/anti‑spyware tools, secure Wi‑Fi connections, and consider VPN services like Hotspot Shield. The interview underscores the massive scale of Snapchat usage—about 700 million photos sent daily—and the enduring privacy risks inherent in the platform.
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All of these stories about leaked photos or hacks and wondering if your own pictures are safe. Joining me from our Beacon Hill studio now is McAfee Online Security expert Robert Siciliano. Thanks for joining us.
Good morning.
All right, good morning. So we've heard the stories over the last few days. Hackers have gotten their hands on 100,000 Snapchat photos and videos. They're leaking them. This is being called reportedly the Snapening and is a bigger hack job than the one that targeted the celebrities. How in the world did somebody like this happen?
It looks like that Snapchat has some third-party applications that revolve around it. Basically, they will capture the snaps or the, the photos, the multimedia that's being sent across, and they store them in on these third-party apps. Snapchat specifically has in their terms of service or terms and conditions that other applications are simply not allowed to do this. But they don't care and they do it, and ultimately if you think that your snaps essentially are gonna evaporate within 5 to 10 seconds after they're being sent, you're delusional because when it's digital, it's forever and these third parties are storing your data.
Yeah, obviously a lot of problems with this news. Users of Snapchat, typically teenagers, some of them like to post nude photos of themselves thinking that they're going to disappear quickly. I mean, sharing nude photos of underage kids is a big crime here.
It is illegal, and it's considered child pornography, even when kids are sharing it amongst themselves. And then when, say, an 18-year-old gets a hold of it, they're engaging in child porn as well. And so that's an adult fine, or an adult— you know, not fine, I mean, it's a criminal act. And so, you know, parents need to recognize that this is going on. It's a trend that kids have been involved in for a couple of years now, and it's really scary because, again, digital is repeatable. It's copied and pasted. It lasts forever. And those same photos Those photos now, it's said, are being matched potentially with usernames and eventually could be posted on the web and associated with actually with your kid.
It is so scary being a parent and listening to stories like this. What can authorities do to catch these hackers? What more can they do?
Yeah, it would be nice if they just could go out and do that, but the web, you know, as anonymous as it is, and there are ways in which you can track down the individuals associated with these crimes, often associated with certain IP addresses. In some cases, they might leak their own email addresses or their own usernames. So as anonymous as they try to be, uh, there are ways to track them down. And, and law enforcement, FBI and so forth, is getting much better at this. Um, but I would not rely on, uh, government officials or government agencies to track down the bad guys and prosecute them. Essentially, as parents, you gotta get in touch with your kids, You gotta tell them what they're doing is inappropriate, that eventually it could come back to bite them, that, that, you know, sending these photos has long-term consequences.
Absolutely. Snapchat also getting a lot of heat for this, saying it's not their fault, saying, as you said, it was a third-party app that was hacked. They say, and they said in a statement, that they vigilantly monitor the App Store and Google Play for illegal third-party apps and have succeeded in getting many of these removed. But what's your response?
Yeah, you know, Snapchat, uh, they're, they're, they're a, you know, for-profit business, and yes, they're gonna send out statements like this, but they should be doing more. They should be doing more to make sure that their, their third-party applications aren't, uh, online. But even still, they should create something within their own technology that prevents this in the first place, because as long as consumers are under the illusion that their photos are going to disappear and the technology is such that it's it's capable of making it live forever, then Snapchat simply is selling snake oil.
All right, I read that there are some 700 million photos sent using Snapchat every day. I can't believe that it's so many photos. It's a lot of users. So what is your final advice to all of these people on Snapchat?
Well, first and foremost, don't do it. Recognizing that any photos that you don't want your mom to see or your grandmom to see, don't do it. And you also have to protect your devices. You know, I work with Macintosh, cryptography and update your antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, and firewall. Also make sure that anything you're sending over wireless communications is secure. One of my clients is Hotspot Shield. They protect your wireless Wi-Fi communications. Just make sure you're protecting your data and not engaging in, you know, bad online reputation management.
Great advice as always. Thank you so much, Robert Siciliano.
