Hackers Steal Images from Women-Only Dating Site, Access Insurance Giant Customer Data
- Hackers breached a popular women-only dating app and accessed over 72,000 images, including sensitive ID verification selfies
- The dating app with 1.6 million users said it is working with cybersecurity experts and has pledged to enhance user protection following the breach
- Allianz Life Insurance revealed that a social engineering attack compromised customer data via a third-party CRM system in a separate cyberattack
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Elijah Ntongai, an editor at TUKO.co.ke, has over four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting experience, providing insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.
Two major data breaches have rocked US companies in separate cyberattacks.
Source: Getty Images
Tea Dating Advice, a women-only dating site, was targeted and breached by hackers who accessed more than 72,000 images.
The BBC reported that the data accessed by hackers includes sensitive information submitted by the app users, such as verification selfies with women holding their ID cards.
Who was affected by the hackers' attack on Tea?
Tea, which has grown rapidly in popularity with 1.6 million users, said the breach affected women who joined before February 2024.
Critics have accused it of being biased against men, while supporters say it offers vital safety tools for women navigating the online dating world.
The platform enables women to verify whether potential partners are married or listed as sex offenders and to conduct reverse image searches to detect fake profiles.
One of its most debated features allows users to post reviews of men they have dated before, highlighting 'red flags' for negative reviews and 'green flags' for positive reviews.
"Some included images of women holding photo identification for verification purposes, which Tea's own privacy policy promises are 'deleted immediately' after authentication," the BBC reported.
Source: UGC
In addition to photos, hackers also accessed 59,000 posts, comments, and messages dating back over two years.
The company is now working with cybersecurity experts and has pledged to protect users going forward.
Hackers attack Allianz Life Insurance customers
In a separate incident, Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America disclosed that a malicious actor had infiltrated a third-party CRM system and compromised personally identifiable information belonging to many of its customers.
Allianz's German parent company reported that the July 16 breach was caused by a social engineering attack targeting a cloud-based customer relationship system.
Though the company stressed that its core policy systems were unaffected, the stolen data included information on customers, financial professionals, and staff.
The insurance company has over 125 million customers across the globe, and it said that it is in the process of contacting and assisting the affected customers.
The company also said it had taken "immediate action" to contain the breach and had notified the FBI.
Australian airline suffers cyberattack
In early July, Australian airline Qantas suffered a major cyberattack that compromised a third-party system.
The compromised system contained sensitive data belonging to six million customers, including names, emails, phone numbers, and birthdates.
The company notified authorities, apologised to customers and stressed that flight operations remained unaffected.
The breaches add to a string of recent high-profile cyberattacks across the world, raising concerns about ongoing vulnerabilities.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
