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Video chat app HouseParty is offering a $1 million (£811,000) bounty to anyone who can prove that it has been the target of a “smear campaign” over its security.
The video call app has risen to popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing users in locked-down countries to play games and speak to friends and family while they are separated.
But HouseParty has now suggested it may have been targeted by a “paid commercial smear campaign”, after many claimed their security has been compromised by using it.
In a series of posts on social media, users have claimed that the app has resulted in their other online accounts – including Netflix, eBay, Instagram and Spotify – being hacked.
We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com.
— Houseparty (@houseparty) March 31, 2020
They wrote on Twitter: “We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumours were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty,” the app said in a tweet.
“We are offering a 1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com.”
“We have spent the past few weeks feeling humbled and grateful that we can be such a large part of bringing people together during such a hard time.”
Houseparty is owned by Epic Games, the firm also in charge of hugely popular battle game Fortnite.
But they have found “no evidence” of a breach and confirmed that the app does not collect passwords, although sites such as Facebook and Snapchat can be connected to it.
Users are now encouraged to instead choose a different password for each account, instead of “using passwords that are short and simple”.
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