ellistalley493895

p>InstaAgent's creator apologizes for his mistake following Apple and Google ban By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

/p>

p>12 November 2015

/p>

p>The creator of an app that sends messages of spam to users' Instagram accounts has admitted to making "a horrible error".

/p>

p>Turker Bayram's InstaAgent app was pulled from Apple and Google's stores after another developer spotted it was copying users' names and passwords for the photo-sharing service.

/p>

p>However, InstaAgent used the logins. Mr Bayram says he is not saving them.

/p>

p>One expert stated that sending passwords to an unidentified server was "highly unusual".

/p>

p>"Not an excellent idea"

/p>

p>InstaAgent was a top free app charts in several countries, including the UK before it was blocked.

/p>

p>The program promises to let users see who had visited their Instagram profiles.

/p>

p>On Tuesday, David Layer Reiss, a German iOS developer, posted a series tweets that included evidence InstaAgent was hacking people's information.

/p>

p>Bayram did not provide an explanation for his actions to the BBC when he was questioned the following day. However, he later posted a statement online in broken English.

/p>

p>He stated that they were working on a new promotion strategy for the service.

/p>

p>If you want to view more people who have looked at your photos, the app could cost you a fee.

/p>

p>Mr Bayram explained he had been working on a feature that would have granted full access for free if device owners let an advert for InstaAgent be displayed in their feeds, but said that he did not want to activate it.

/p>

p>"It was not an ideal idea," he acknowledged.

/p>

p>"We did not publish because we discovered that Instagram was not allowing private APIs [application program interfaces] for third-party applications' use."

/p>

p>He added, however, that for reasons he "couldn't understand" the code was still posting the ads to some accounts of people.

/p>

p>"It was a horrible experience for us. Since our application has disabled the mobile market," he wrote.

/p>

p>He added that users who have downloaded the app needn't be worried.

/p>

p>"Nobody's password was stolen. Your password was never saved to servers that were not authorized. https://writeablog.net/backhelmet98/the-game-is-progressing-in-halo-3-arg </p>

p>"But every time, we apologise... and in the future, we will carefully read service provider's policies."

/p>

p>Security concerns

/p>

p>Instagram which is owned by Facebook it has advised users against using such bolt-on services.

/p>

p>"Anyone who downloaded this app must delete it and change their password," a spokeswoman said.

/p>

p>Alan Woodward, security consultant, said that he still has concerns.

/p>

p>"Offering users an app that allows them to view who has visited their profile is a traditional method of luring users into installing malware," he said.

/p>

p>"For an app from a third party to send your password to an external server is, at best, an attempt to circumvent the rules of that social media service. At worst , it's a means of grabbing your password for criminal reasons.

/p>

p>"The particular method by which this app was transferring user credentials to a shady server seems highly unorthodox." https://squareblogs.net/numbershop76/64-375-fans-are-welcomed-to-south-korean-mens-world-cup-qualifiers-among-a </p>

p>Top-charting app 'harvested passwords'

/p>

p>11 November 2015

/p>

p>Instagram

/p>

p>Alan Woodward

/p>