Snapchats Don't Disappear
Mobile photo-sharing app SnapChat has one claim to fame, compared to other ways people might share photos from their cellphones: the photos, once viewed, disappear from view, after a pre-set length of time. However, it turns out they don't disappear as thoroughly as users might like. New submitter nefus writes with this excerpt from Forbes: "Richard Hickman of Decipher Forensics found that it's possible to pull Snapchat photos from Android phones simply by downloading data from the phone using forensics software and removing a '.NoMedia' file extension that was keeping the photos from being viewed on the device. He published his findings online and local TV station KSL has a video showing how it's done."
The two douches who made it said it deletes it off the internet forever.
You need forensics software to browse the filesystem of a phone?
My somewhat antiquated Nokia 6600 and N79 allow me to browse it with a simple 3rd party file manager installed on the device, and the built in file manager has some limitations but allows me to look at 60-70% of the filesystem atleast
How hard could it be to store it in RAM as it is received and then zero out the memory when finished. Sure it is not remotely hack proof but at least when it is broken you can only get new photos.
Or if you don't have the RAM to store the pic store an encryption key.
Down with DRM in all forms.
Vanishing pictures... thats drm. don't care how you spin it.
If you wanted actual security, you'd use a real program to do it instead of an app.
If you wanted actual security, you wouldn't have it on a computer.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Isnt it trivial to bypass by taking a screenshot or even a picture of the phone screen?
IF its something you really want to hide, these ways to bypass make the app useless
"However, once the photo is opened, and the timer goes off, Snapchat does in fact delete the photo."
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/09/actually-snapchat-photos-are-just-as-deleted-as-any-other-file-you-trash/
What morons thought their claims were even remotely possible. You don't even need to be a techie to save the images forever. Just snap a screenshot while the image is being displayed. Done.
If you wanted actual security, you'd use a real program to do it instead of an app.
If you wanted actual security, you wouldn't have it on a computer.
If you wanted actual security, you wouldn't send it to someone else's computer.
Forensics software? Just open up the folder. I mean, you have to rooted, but that's not really weird. Look, here's someone talking about getting pics and vids before even viewing them in Snapchat. Back in March. If you have to output something to the user, they're going to have to be able to get at it one way or another.
And that, my friends, is what we call a honeypot. Don't trust anyone with your data if you're about to do something stupid/illegal with your computing device.
My data doesn't disappear when I run # mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda either. Make ya think eh?
Seems that people still do not have a clue how computers work. None at all. Here is a hint: If it can be viewed, it can be copied.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Wooh, another completely incorrect Slashdot title for the win. Because the pics DO disappear when you open them. Both from your phone and their servers. There's just an exploit where rooted phones can view/copy the pictures before they are opened/deleted. "Don't disappear" =/ discretely copyable.
You could just screenshot them like everyone else does.....?
Of course you're able to save them, people generally just use snapchat because it's funny, I don't think most people are actually using it for sexting. I would assume if you're actually sending naked pics then you trust the people you're messaging to not to try to save them/don't care if they do.
I'm probably going to show my age and/or a great deal of naiveté here, but can someone please explain why this service is even a thing? I just can't think of a situation in which I would send a photo to someone and subsequently care whether they saved it or not. I mean, if I want them to see it I send it, if I don't want them to see it then I don't send it. How is it more complicated than that?
So people can show strangers on the Internet their tits/dick/both at once with the promise not to save pics enforced by the software? (except not really)
Can't think of any other remotely useful scenario. Maybe this one was the author's plan all along?
My god, I'm in my 30s!
Apps are worthless pieces of junk that never do anything correctly.
If you wanted actual security, you'd use a real program to do it instead of an app.
Sorry, but what's the difference? You do realise that App is short for "Application", i.e. what apple calls every program on your machine. On OS X (and iOS) the equivalent to the .exe extension is .app.
You know what he means.
stuff I saw on reddit days ago
All they need to do is create the ".NoMediaNoMedia" file. This will keep the photos and the file ".NoMedia" from being viewed on the device.
I've been happy with Wickr. No ties to the company, just a happy user. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/wickr-self-destructing-secure/id528962154?mt=8
Trolling is a art,
Yep. He means: "Do not feed me. I'm a troll."
-- Cheers!
It is unreasonably easy to recover SnapChat images on a rooted android phone. They are NOT deleted after the timer goes off. They are stored in data/data/com.snapchat.android/cache/recieved_image_snaps as "h1a81hurcs00h" + currentTimeMillis + .jpg.nomedia! Looking at their code, they have the deleteVideoDirectory method, but no deleteImageDirectory method. I'm not so sure it's a bug.
Yep, from context it is clear he is trying to argue that just being a guy from Scotland is not enough to make one a real Scotsman.
No, I genuinely don't know what he means –what's the supposed difference between a program that runs on a computer, and a program that runs on a small computer?
Another fix would be changing the file extension to ".NothingToSeeHereMoveAlong".
Or Maybe :
".TheseArentTheBoobiesYoureLookingFor.HandWaving"
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Surprise, surprise as the mobile OS of peace is once again creating privacy issues
If you wanted actual security, you'd use a real program to do it instead of an app.
If you wanted actual security, you wouldn't have it on a computer.
If you wanted actual security, you wouldn't send it to someone else's computer.
If you wanted actual security, you would ensure that no other computer could access the files on your computer.