As the Ashley Madison leak proved, online security is about as reliable as your electricity supply. Which is why a teenager poking around the Kardashian clan’s new social media venture managed to stumble upon hundreds of thousands of names and e-mail addresses.
Alaxic Smith, himself an app developer, says he was curious about the Kardashian apps worked. They were launched just this week by the five Kardashian/Jenner sisters, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie, to much fanfare in New York. They were supposed to be a passion project, highlighting the personal interests of each sister, for a fee of course. What Smith found instead was the personal information of everyone who had downloaded the app. He also found that he had the power to delete or change the information he encountered.
Blogging about his discovery, Smith wrote: “It's clear why this is a major issue, and raises the question: should users trust not only their personal information but also payment information with these apps?”
Whalerock, the company who created the Kardashian apps, says the problem has been solved and that Smith had no access to payment information. Which will come as some relief to the Kardashian clan who are already reaping the rewards from their latest venture. To date, Kylie has the most popular app, with over 600 000 users.
Entertainment Reporter