Snapchat has filed a patent application for a system of advertising that uses object recognition to serve users sponsored filters. The technology outlined by the company would identify items in users' pictures, and then offer them image overlays from brands related to these objects.

It's the visual equivalent of buying advertising space based on keywords in Google searches — but instead of looking for textual data in searches like "headphones" or "shoes," it's looking for the objects themselves. The patent application was filed in January last year, published by the US patent office earlier this month.

In a blog post on Sunday, Snapchat executives revealed that the payroll data of some current and former employees was exposed as the result of a scam e-mail sent to a human resources employee at the company.

On February 26, an employee in Snapchat's payroll department received a "spear phishing" e-mail that appeared to be from Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel — but that came from an external e-mail address. The message requested employee payroll information. The individual targeted didn't recognize the message as a scam, and they forwarded the requested information. This sort of phishing attack has been on the rise recently.

Snapchat users will find some significant new features in the mobile application's latest version, which is being rolled out today. The updates include a feature that will enhance selfies called Lenses and Snapchat's first-ever attempt at in-app purchases.

Lenses. With Lenses, users will be able to take a selfie, and then choose one of several face filters to bring their snaps to life. The filters, or lenses, will pop up automatically when a user's camera is in selfie mode, and they press and hold down on their face on the screen. The lenses can distort your face so you look like you're a lot older, for example, or they can add animations and sound.

In the face of widespread Internet surveillance, we need a secure and practical means of talking to each other from our phones and computers. For years, privacy and security experts worldwide have called on the general public to adopt strong, open-source cryptography to protect our communications.

Many companies offer “secure messaging” products — but are these systems actually secure? The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s secure messaging scorecard made a list of mobile and Internet messaging services that scored well on privacy and security and the services that scored poorly. Let’s focus primarily on the most popular messengers. 

Snapchat reportedly has more than 100 million active users of its free photo and video messaging app, but it has never made any money from them. Now it’s hoping to change that by running adverts within the app.

The subject matter may have been scary, but Snapchat was at pains to tell its users that it wants to steer away from “creepy” ad-targeting, as well as avoiding being too intrusive with advertising. Snapchat explained that It’s the first time we had done anything like this because it’s the first time we had been paid to put content in that space. It’s going to feel a little weird at first, but they are taking the plunge.

A giant database of intercepted Snapchat photos and videos has been released by hackers who have been collecting the files for years. Shocked users of the notorious chat forum 4chan are referring to the hack as "The Snappening," noting that this is far bigger than the iCloud hacks that recently targeted celebrities.

Underground photo-trading chat rooms have been filled in recent weeks with hints that something big was coming. Thursday night it finally arrived: A third-party Snapchat client app has been collecting every single photo and video file sent through it for years, giving hackers access to a 13GB library of Snapchats that users thought had been deleted.

The phone numbers and usernames of more than 4.6 million North American Snapchat users have been leaked online. SnapchatDB, an unofficial site run by an anonymous individual or group, allows open access to two files — one an SQL dump, one CSV text — that show details of the photo-sharing app's users alongside their location.

The final two digits of phone numbers have been censored "to minimize spam and abuse," but SnapchatDB says people should "feel free" to contact it for the uncensored database, as it may release it under certain circumstances. Usernames are presented unedited, and SnapchatDB notes that "people tend to use the same username around the web."