"Online dating and security"

 

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/mwc21-online-dating-apps/40628/
How secure are online dating apps privacy-wise?
https://securelist.com/dating-apps-report-2021/103000/

REPORT: "Love in an algorithmic age"
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2021/07/report-love-in-algorithmic-age.html

 

"45% of single Indians believe online, virtual dating is the normal way of dating, finds a report"
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2021/07/45-of-single-indians-believe-online.html

REPORT: "Love in an algorithmic age"

 

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/dating-report-2021/
Part I: How people around the world use dating apps in 2021: People aren’t only using dating apps for dating.
Part II: How people feel about the role of technology in dating
III: How people feel about relationships in an algorithmic age

"It's 2021, Why Are Dating App Algorithms Still so Bad?"
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2021/07/its-2021-why-are-dating-app-algorithms.html

Match Group Releases First Impact Report
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2021/06/match-group-releases-first-impact-report.html

Sheriff: 21 apps that could be putting your child in danger
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2019/10/sheriff-21-apps-that-could-be-putting.html

SDK Bug Lets Attackers Spy on User’s Video Calls Across Dating

 

https://threatpost.com/sdk-bug-spy-calls-dating-healthcare-apps/164068/
A vulnerability in an SDK that allows users to make video calls in apps like eHarmony, PlentyOfFish, MeetMe and Skout allows threat actors to spy on private calls without the user knowing.


Security article: Can Online Dating Apps be Used to Target Your Company?
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2017/08/security-article-can-online-dating-apps.html


A hacker group is selling more than 73 million user records
https://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-hacker-group-is-selling-more-than-73.html

NEW? File with 1.4 Billion Hacked and Leaked Passwords Found on the Dark Web

Online Dating site   Zoosk
https://medium.com/4iqdelvedeep/1-4-billion-clear-text-credentials-discovered-in-a-single-database-3131d0a1ae14
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2017/12/11/billion-hacked-passwords-dark-web/
Security issues in mobile dating applications: attacks, malware and phishing. (via singleboersen-vergleich)
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2016/04/security-issues-in-mobile-dating.html

ALERT Russian-speaking hackers breach 97 websites, many of them online dating ones.
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2015/08/alert-russian-speaking-hackers-breach.html

Security article: Can Online Dating Apps be Used to Target Your Company?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/08/security-article-can-online-dating-apps.html

VP and GC of eHarmony Battles Cyberattacks With Knowledge, Careful Planning
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/12/vp-and-gc-of-eharmony-battles.html

Kaspersky October 2017 research: Dangerous liaisons: Investigating the security of online dating apps (part 2)
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/10/kaspersky-october-2017-research.html

Dangerous Liaisons: is everyone doing it online? (part 1)
Kaspersky August 2017 research: Dangerous Liaisons: is everyone doing it online?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/10/kaspersky-august-2017-research.html

Kaspersky October 2017 research: Dangerous liaisons: Investigating the security of online dating apps (part 2)

Researchers Hack Tinder, Ok Cupid, Other Dating Apps to Reveal Your Location and Messages
https://securelist.com/dangerous-liaisons/82803/
http://mashable.com/2017/10/24/dating-apps-tinder-bumble-hack/
https://hipertextual.com/2017/10/investigadores-hackean-tinder-otras-apps-revelar-exploits
https://gizmodo.com/researchers-hack-tinder-ok-cupid-other-dating-apps-to-1819803674
https://www.tecmundo.com.br/seguranca/123431-kaspersky-hackeia-tinder-badoo-dados-sensiveis-usuarios-descobertos.htm

Security researchers have uncovered numerous exploits in popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and OK Cupid. Using exploits ranging from simple to complex, researchers at the Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab say they could access users’ location data, their real names and login info, their message history, and even see which profiles they’ve viewed. As the researchers note, this makes users vulnerable to blackmail and stalking.

•         Tinder for Android and iOS
•         Bumble for Android and iOS
•         OK Cupid for Android and iOS
•         Badoo for Android and iOS
•         Mamba for Android and iOS
•         Zoosk for Android and iOS
•         Happn for Android and iOS
•         WeChat for Android and iOS
•         Paktor for Android and iOS

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/dating-apps-threats/19905/
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/online-dating-lies/19703/
https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/tinder-bots/14697/
 

Perhaps many of those dating apps are not interested at all in security.
Moreover, they could be involved with a mafia of white hat hackers in the spyware business.

Badoo is in big war with Tinder (Match Group). When Match Group (fka IAC Personals) bought OKCupid (6+ years ago) for an astronomical amount of money, the OKCupid team had the task to copycat Badoo, but they failed in that mission.
IAC / Match Group “acquired” HatchLabs to “develop” Tinder copycat of Badoo.
Then Badoo backed Bumble to fight back and destroy Tinder (last December 2014).


Dangerous Liaisons: is everyone doing it online? (part 1)
Kaspersky August 2017 research: Dangerous Liaisons: is everyone doing it online?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/10/kaspersky-august-2017-research.html


Security article: Can Online Dating Apps be Used to Target Your Company?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/08/security-article-can-online-dating-apps.html

Security article: Can Online Dating Apps be Used to Target Your Company?

http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/can-online-dating-apps-be-used-to-target-your-company/
 
PlentyOfFish (POF) is revealed as the most dangerous dating app in Britain
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/08/plentyoffish-pof-is-revealed-as-most.html

USA FTC article: How fast will identity thieves use stolen info?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/05/usa-ftc-article-how-fast-will-identity.html

Mozilla’s First Internet Health Report Tackles Security and Privacy
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/01/mozillas-first-internet-health-report.html

article: Fraud and identity theft a real problem for online dating sites!
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/01/article-fraud-and-identity-theft-real.html

A dating site leaked over a million accounts because of bad security
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2016/10/a-dating-site-leaked-over-million.html

Security Problem Exposes User Information at Match ?
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2015/04/security-problem-exposes-user.html

Up to 40,000 Tinder selfies "stolen" via TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/28/someone-scraped-40000-tinder-selfies-to-make-a-facial-dataset-for-ai-experiments/

Match Group, Inc. (MTCH) Astronomical compensations to their C-level executives
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/04/match-group-inc-mtch-astronomical.html

Astronomical compensations to their C-level executives but not going to innovate and revolutionize the Online Dating Industry in the next years.
Also Match Group, Inc. (MTCH) is solely controlled by IAC.

It is said the main business of Badoo is the spyware business! 
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2016/06/the-hackers-hacked-badoo-2-june-2016.html
BI article: The reclusive CEO of dating app Badoo on his app's redesign
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2017/04/bi-article-reclusive-ceo-of-dating-app.html

Last May 2016, I suggested USA FTC investigate several online dating sites for misleading statements, false claims, overpromises.
Like Match, eHarmony, Zoosk, OkCupid, EliteSingles (Affinitas GmbH.) copycat of eHarmony, Tinder and others.
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2016/05/suggested-usa-ftc-investigate-several.html 

Security issues in mobile dating applications: attacks, malware and phishing. (via singleboersen-vergleich)

http://www.singleboersen-vergleich.de/news_einzel_2009/2016-04-25-analyse-dating-app-risiken-zugriffsrechte.htm
http://www.krone.at/Digital/So_werden_Nutzer_von_Dating-Apps_entbloesst-Tinder._Badoo_-_Co.-Story-507650

   93% of the tested mobile dating applications can access photos and other files on your smartphone.
   86% of the apps collect location data of the smartphone and can use it to create a complete profile of the user, including place of residence, employer and hobbies.
   13% of the investigated apps even allow themselves to access to the SMS contacts and can not only read text messages from the user, but also send SMS without their knowledge.


Badoo: A dating app with 300 million users? 
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2016/04/badoo-dating-app-with-300-million-users.html

Russian billionaire backer of Bumble who is also in the spyware business.

IBM Security Analysis: Dating Apps Vulnerabilities & Risks to Enterprises

http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/wg/en/wgl03072usen/WGL03072USEN.PDF
http://securityintelligence.com/datingapps/#.VN2hkCxWIrk

Also featured in Spanish at La Nación Newspaper:
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1767867-tinder-y-las-aplicaciones-de-citas-bajo-la-lupa-en-las-redes-corporativas

It seems several online dating sites, like PlentyOfFish and eHarmony HAD BEEN ALERTED IN ADVANCE, since 2009 about security holes, but they had not paid the attention it deserved.
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com.ar/2014/11/as-usual-eharmony-hacked-again.html

My thoughts about "Cupid Media Hack Exposed 42M Passwords"

Alexa is like a seismograph station for Internet sites.
If you check eHarmony, Match and PlentyOfFish you will see they are high activity level sites.

CupidMedia owns and operates 35+ International online dating sites, no one of them have high activity levels according to Alexa and they are all mostly run in English language, they have low or little traffic rank.

If you register and begin to use any of those sites, perhaps you will discover the main objective is to attract men and send them to other adult content sites ( check the link, in Alexa, www dot blackcupid dot com www.alexa.com/siteinfo/blackcupid.com and see where it redirects! )

To be more clear, those 35+ online dating sites are only "special purposes vehicles" to redirect men to adult content sites, and most probably 90% of profiles in their databases, are only fake profiles of women designed exclusively to redirect men to adult content sites. No more than that. Quite similar to "AshleyMadison case, sued by ex-worker who claims she wrote too many fake female profiles."

Passwords13 conferences

Passwords13 Las Vegas was held July 30 & 31, 2013 at Gold Coast Casino.

Passwords13 Norway will be held in Bergen, Norway in December 2013.

Hope online dating sites can pay attention to those conferences!

Remember former conferences ?
The Passwords^12 Conference
The Passwords 11, A 2-day Conference

Security holes / gaffes / auto login features ?

Users may be exposing themselves without realizing it.

Remember:
Several online dating sites HAD BEEN ALERTED IN ADVANCE, since 2009 about security holes, but they had not paid the attention it deserved. 
 New legislation can kill free/freemium sites.

The Online Dating Industry has no/weak Legislation, no ID verification, low reliable background checks, no Quality Norms.
No one compatibility matching method is Scientifically Proven.
BUT
A variety of new laws, or new interpretations of existing laws, could subject dating sites to claims or otherwise harm their business. (extracted from IAC SEC filing)

 Please read also:
Power Balance Bracelets lawsuit
Lawsuit against Match 
In January 2011 the former CEO for IAC Personals Latam Countries, Mr. Claudio Gandelman: Match Argentina recognized 75% inactive profiles.