Snapchat plays down threat of hackers accessing users` phone numbers

Washington: Snapchat has reportedly downplayed the security issue with its service, as reported by Gibson security experts, that exposed users` phone numbers based on their usernames.

The auto-destruct photo sharing service said that it has recently added additional counter-measures and continue to combat spam and abuse, adding that the hack sounded `impractical`. According to Tech Crunch, researchers at Gibson Security discovered the bug by which hackers could connect user names to phone numbers for stalking purpose, but the security glitch reported went unnoticed by the company. The company said that if someone were able upload a huge set of phone numbers, like every number in an area code, or every possible number in the US, they could create a database of the results and match usernames to phone numbers that way. However, Snapchat insisted that it has implemented various safeguards to boost its users` privacy to make such hacking more difficult to do.