Based on the reaction on Twitter from both users of the Houseparty app and the maker of the app, something is just not right at the moment.  It’s possible that the Houseparty app may have been compromised, which is all that can be said since it isn’t confirmed, There are a numbers of users complaining they have been hacked.  Today’s post will review what we know so far about the possible Hacking Alert, and Houseparty App Maybe Involved. Hacking Alert: Houseparty App Maybe Involved

What Is Houseparty

For starters, if you don’t know what the Houseparty app is, here is the breakdown. Houseparty is a social networking service that enables group video chatting through mobile and desktop apps. Users receive a notification when friends are online and available to group video chat. If you have used WhatsApp, Facebook Chat, or even Facetime, you have done something similar. The Houseparty app works on iOS, Android, MacOs, and Chrome (Windows users).

If you are using Houseparty, your conversation could something like this.

The Current Situation (Possible Hacking)

If you look at Twitter over the past couple of hours, there are dozens of posts all reporting various issues with both computers and accounts getting compromised. There have been enough posts that Houseparty on Twitter released a statement

That comes after many posts about people getting hacked like

or

among the many posts listed today.

What May Be Actually Happening

It is possible that Houseparty didn’t actually get directly hacked, but if you use the same email address and password for all your accounts (Banking, Social Media, Music Apps, and other apps), that your information was just exposed. Once the bad guys have your info, for one site the 1st thing they do is go and try it and all of the other major sites, with the possibility of your account info letting them into at other places.

If you visit the website Have I Been Pwned, you can find out if your info has been exposed online. By entering just your email address (they ask for no other information), you will be shown if your info was part of any known breach. The info that appears will show you what was exposed, by who, and when.

If your info was exposed, and you havent changed your email password between the date listed and now, you REALLY NEED TO CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD.  Even better, would be to do two things

• Turn On 2 Factor Authentication for all of your accounts
• Use a password manager, so that you have different password for each site

Deleting Your Houseparty Account

For those interested in deleting your Houseparty account, the steps are

• Tap the user icon in the top left corner
• Look for and click on the Settings icon
• Next Tap on Privacy
• Lastly, Tap Delete Account

• At this point you will get 3 prompts to make sure you are really, really, really, really, sure you want to really delete you Houseparty account. One of the 3 prompts will even ask you for your Houseparty account password.

Finally you will get to the last delete, and your account will be deleted.

**NOTE FOR ANDROID USERS – We have seen multiple reports that the delete option was missing from the Android app. If you are on Android, find a friend or family with an iPhone and log into the app from the iPhone. That is the work around to get the account deleted.

Final Thoughts

Can we say if Houseparty was or wasn’t hacked? At this point the honest answer is NO we can’t. It doesn’t mean they were or weren’t, just that we can’t confirm. No matter what sites get hacked in the future, the responsibility for your accounts fall on you the user. Start by not using the same email and password for all your accounts, use something like a password manager to manage your passwords. In addition, set up 2 factor authentication on your accounts, so that you need to “approve” the connection via your phone or other device if anyone ever tries to log in.  Yes it may seem annoying that you have to do all those steps, but do you not get up at times to make sure you locked your doors?  This is the virtual version of doing that.

Source(s)

• Twitter Screenshots – Houseparty Twitter account
• Have I Been Pwned Screenshots – From the Have I Been Pwned Site

Hacking Alert: Houseparty App Maybe Involved