A Major Social Media App Had To Go Offline For Security Reasons

By Trista Sobeck | Updated

As more and more people flee Twitter and search for a new place to connect, complain, and kibitz, new social media platforms, like Hive, are popping up. But, according to CNET, Hive has reportedly hit a snag. A big one. It was recently forced offline amid security concerns. Although the social media brand does not believe anyone was affected, developers decided to be safe rather than sorry.

All the drama happened earlier in the week as a Berlin-based security collective Zerforschung tweeted that no one should use Hive because all private info was vulnerable. Hive was then forced to shut down and used the term “preventative measure” as it pretty much denied the accusations. 

The German watchdog group told folks to stay away from Hive for the time being citing the social media platform is vulnerable to cyber-attacks and hacking. Hive has said that no one’s personal information has been compromised at this time, but has shut down for a couple of days to address the issue.

Some news outlets are reporting that all information is easily attainable with Hive’s issues, but now that servers have been shut down, problems should be averted. However, it is unknown if users will flock back to Hive after the reports of extreme vulnerability. 

Unfortunately, Hive waited about 72 hours to shut everything down. Users and critics are wondering why and are concerned that any information was leaked. The situation, from that perspective, is still developing.

Hive, which launched about two years ago, has seen enormous growth over the past couple of months. As Twitter, under new Elon Musk ownership, has experienced changes in staff with massive layoffs and organizational changes, Hive is quickly becoming the “buzzy” place to be. 

A recent feud between Apple and Elon Musk has some folks wondering if Twitter will no longer be available on the iPhone. That may push more users to Hive after the servers get booted back up. What happens remains to be seen. 

With Twitter under considerable turmoil, Hive and other social media apps stood to gain some ground in the landscape. Elon Musk was toying with the idea of charging for verified checkmarks used by celebrities and other famous folks, however, now, gold checkmarks will be used. Most people are good at navigating change. And now that Twitter is undergoing enormous change, some folks are obviously concerned, and scared. 

Many people use social media to connect to the world. Twitter has been an amazing tool for keeping us all up to date about what is going on in the farthest parts of the world. Twitter made us all reporters in the trenches. And now, its future is unknown. That is scary. Will we no longer be able to hear real-time descriptions from the “man on the street”? Could places like Hive be the new meeting centers? They’ll have to make sure they can stay online first.