Messaging app Yo, which in the past week has rocketed to the top of the app download charts, has been hit by a hack.
Creator Or Arbel told technology news site TechCrunch the app was having "security issues".
The app allows users to send a message saying "yo" to friends - and nothing else.
It has been branded "pointless", but has nonetheless raised $1m (£600,000) in investment.
TechCrunch said it was contacted by three college students who said they had uncovered a flaw in the app.
"We can get any Yo user's phone number (I actually texted the founder, and he called me back)," the students told TechCrunch.
"We can spoof yos from any users, and we can spam any user...
We could also send any Yo user a push notification with any text we
want (though we decided not to do that)."
Other developers have been able to recreate the flaw.
Similar problems have hit apps such as Snapchat and Tinder in the past few months.
'Decline of civilisation'
Mr Arbel told TechCrunch he was dealing with the issue, but would not elaborate further.
"Some of the stuff has been fixed and some we are still
working on," he said, adding that he had hired a specialist security
team.
"We are taking this very seriously."
Despite the app's apparent pointlessness, it has quickly
attracted hundreds of thousands of users. Mr Arbel said more than four
million "yo" messages had been sent.
A service that sends a "yo" to a user every time a goal is
scored in the World Cup has already been launched - with other similar
services planned.
The app, which took eight hours to create, has the technology
community divided - with some seeing the app, and its seven-figure
investment, as a sign of increasing hysteria in Silicon Valley for
offbeat ideas.
"We have decided this is an idea with great potential," Mr Arbel told the Financial Times.
One reader of The Verge technology news site said the app, and its sudden mainstream coverage, was "accelerating the decline of civilisation".
Story Source
http://www.bbc.com
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