Simplistic 'Yo' Messaging App Soars in App Store Charts, Proves Vulnerable to Hacking

The Yo messaging app [Direct Link] debuted earlier this year and recently rocketed up the iOS App Store charts, where it currently sits at number five among top free iPhone apps in the United States. The simplistic app that does nothing more than allow users to ping contacts with a simple "Yo" message may be gaining traction with its quirky ease of use, but a hack, confirmed by Yo founders to TechCrunch, may put users' personal information at risk.

yo-app-screens
According to the TechCrunch report, a student at Georgia Tech discovered a flaw that allows a nefarious user to discover the phone number of another Yo user, spoof a message from any Yo member and send a text-based push notification to recipient devices. Yo founder Or Arbel confirmed to TechCrunch the service was having "security issues," but did not provide details on the vulnerability, only stating that the issues will be resolved soon.

Founder Or Arbel has now confirmed that Yo was “having security issues”.

He told TechCrunch: “Some of the stuff has been fixed and some we are still working on. We are taking this very seriously.”

He said he could not reveal which hacks were still live. He said the company has brought in a specialist security team to deal with the issues

Arbel said he hoped the security problems would be fixed “in next few hours.”

According to Valleywag, the idea for Yo came from Israeli investor and Mobli CEO Moshe Hogeg, who wanted an easy way to communicate with his secretary. Developer Or Arbel ran with the idea and created the Yo app, which Hogeg uses. Life Before Us LLC, the company created by Abel, recently received $1 million in angel funding to continue development of the Yo app.

Top Rated Comments

cymerc Avatar
115 months ago
Yo in hungarian means pointless app with dumb icon!
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChrisA Avatar
115 months ago
This could be the start of something big.

SO finally users are so dumb they need a special app for each message they send. I think I will make a "What's up?" app and then a few other apps for sending various replies. I can have an entire ecosystem of message apps: "yo", What's Up", "Hey", "duh" and 50 or 100 others. My new message apps will fill the first 10 screens on the home page.

Do I need to translate these to other languages?

This might work even better in Chinese. I can make a huge pile of "one charter apps."
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iSee Avatar
115 months ago
So now nefarious hackers can make it seem like you said "Yo" to someone you totally didn't say "Yo" to!

Good god, imagine the disruption! Teen social pecking-orders could be overturned all over the world! Is there no end to the depredations hacker wreak upon us?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pauliaK Avatar
115 months ago
Why would you ever need this? Some of the stuff and it's popularity is beyond me.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AstronomyiPhone Avatar
115 months ago
So you help it soar further by writing a story about it and providing a [Direct Link]?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
miknos Avatar
115 months ago
1 million in angel funding? More like money laundering.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Low-Energy Chip to Allow Solid-State Buttons to Work When Device is Off or Out of Battery

Wednesday March 29, 2023 1:54 am PDT by
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will use a new ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing certain features like the new capacitive solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums. CAD-based render of new solid-state buttons on iPhone 15 Pro models The source of this rumor is ...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2023 Event Taking Place June 5 to 9

Wednesday March 29, 2023 9:58 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 34th annual Worldwide Developers Conference will take place from Monday, June 5 to Friday, June 9. Like WWDC 2020, 2021, and 2022, WWDC 2023 will be an online event for the most part, and it will be open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will provide online sessions and labs, which will allow...
iPhone 15 Pro Multi Purpose button Mute Switch Feature Green 2

iPhone 15 Pro Rumored to Feature Multi-Use Action Button Instead of Mute Switch

Wednesday March 29, 2023 7:28 am PDT by
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are rumored to feature a customizable Action button like the Apple Watch Ultra, according to a MacRumors forum member who leaked accurate details about the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models last year. The source claimed the Action button will replace the Ring/Silent switch that has been included on every iPhone model since 2007. They did not...
iOS 16

Apple Releases iOS 16.4 With New Emoji, Safari Web Push Notifications, Beta Changes, Voice Isolation for Calls and More

Monday March 27, 2023 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 16.4, the fourth major update to the iOS 16 operating system that initially came out last September. iOS 16.4 comes two months after the launch of iOS 16.3, an update that added Security Keys for Apple ID. iOS 16‌.4 and iPadOS 16.4 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes...
Apple Music Classical

Apple Explains Why It Launched an iPhone App Dedicated to Classical Music

Monday March 27, 2023 8:54 pm PDT by
Apple today published a support document explaining why it decided to release a standalone Apple Music Classical app for classical music. In short, Apple says the app was designed to support classical music's complex metadata:Classical music is different. It has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces. The Apple Music...
iOS 16

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5

Tuesday March 28, 2023 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a day after the launch of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4. Registered developers can opt in to the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to Software Update, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an...
home upgrade available feature

PSA: Apple Has Made Its New Home Architecture Update Available Again

Tuesday March 28, 2023 1:50 am PDT by
Apple has made the option to upgrade to new Home architecture available again with the release of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3, after it temporarily pulled the update in December. After updating Apple devices to the latest software, users can once again opt to upgrade any homes set up in the Home app to the new Home architecture, which Apple says brings faster, more reliable ...