Messaging platform Discord has said the official ID photos of around 70,000 users have been stolen by hackers.
The app, which is popular with gamers and teenagers, said the hackers targeted a firm responsible for verifying the ages of its users. Discord said its own platform was not breached.
The stolen data could include personal information, partial credit card numbers and messages with Discord’s customer service agents, the firm said.
No full credit card details, passwords or messages and activity beyond conversations with Discord customer support were leaked, it added.
Discord said it had revoked the third-party service’s access and was continuing to investigate. It said all affected users have been contacted.
“Looking ahead, we recommend impacted users stay alert when receiving messages or other communication that may seem suspicious,” it said.
Until recently, a hack like this could not have happened, because companies had no need to process and collect proofs of age.
Now, so many governments are following the UK and introducing age verification for unsuitable or pornographic content that a company like Discord has to roll out age checks for a decent portion of its 200 million active users.
It’s a bit like the way that shops have to check your age if you’re buying alcohol – only because it’s online, it comes with a lot of additional complications.
A shop, for instance, won’t keep a copy of your passport once they’ve checked your age.
And it definitely won’t keep it in a massive (yet strangely light) safe along with thousands of other passport photocopies, stored right by its front door, ready to be taken.
Online, it’s surprisingly easy to do just that.
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AI ‘distorting women online’
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It’s worth noting that the age verification system used by Discord…
