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Confirmed: Snapsaved Hack Led to Snapchat Photo Leak

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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After word spread last week that some 200,000 Snapchat photos had leaked online, third-party site Snapsaved.com is now taking responsibility for the whole debacle.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, Snapsaved.com admitted that a recent hack of its systems led to the leak, and provided more clarity about the extent of the breach.

"I would like to inform the public that Snapsaved.com was hacked," the post reads. "Snapchat has not been hacked, and these images do not originate from their database."

The site's creators said they "immediately" deleted their entire database upon discovering the breach. Some 500MB of images were stolen, and the majority of affected users are Swedish, Norwegian, and American. No other personal information was accessed, they said.

Following news of the breach last week, Snapchat was quick to respond, noting that its servers were never compromised and that users were instead victimized by their use of third-party apps. Snapchat has warned about the perils of using non-official apps to interact with its service for quite some time.

Those in possession of the images claimed they were trying to organize the trove photos — definitely not safe for work, and likely containing pictures of underage Snapchat users — into a searchable database. But the creators of Snapsaved.com suggested that's not likely to happen.

"The recent rumors about the snappening are a hoax," they said. "The hacker does not have sufficient information to live up to his claims of creating a searchable database.

The creators went on to apologize for the breach, and assure users that they have "always tried to fight child pornography," even going so far as to report some of its users to Swedish and Norwegian authorities.

"We never wished for this to happen," the Facebook post reads. "We did not wish to cause Snapchat or their users any harm, we only wished to provide a unique service."

The whole point of Snapchat is to send images that will eventually disappear, but services like SnapSaved are intended to let you save those photos.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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