Bad news for sneaky swipers.
Internet users sharing an unsecured Wi-Fi network with others may be able to view each other’s Tinder swipes and chats due to two major flaws on Tinder’s part, says a new security study.
The flaws, which can be found in both the app’s Android and iOS versions, give a hacker the power to monitor the user’s every move on the app and also the power to take control over the profile pictures the user sees.
This gives the hacker the potential to swap the Tinder user’s profile picture for inappropriate or malicious content.
This is all down to Tinder, as an app, lacking basic HTTPS encryption for photos. Encryption is the process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorised access.
Essentially, it’s privacy online – something certain aspects of Tinder appears to be lacking, according to this recent study.
This is not to say that Tinder, as an app, is insecure.
Checkmarx found that other data in Tinder’s apps are HTTPS-encrypted – but the vulnerabilities do expose just enough information to allow a hacker on the same network to watch every swipe on their target’s phone.
Scary, eh?
Launched back in 2012, Tinder is one of the first “swiping apps” allowing users to swipe through profiles to ultimately make social connections; swiping right for a profile they like, swiping left to move on to the next profile indicating lack of interest or “super liking” with an upward swipe.
The application is most commonly used as a dating platform and claims responsibility for having matched over 20 billion people to date.
Check out the full study here.
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