EU Age Verification App Hacked in Two Minutes Amid Multiple Security Breaches

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:59:00 +0200

The European Commission's newly released open-source age verification app, intended to help social networks and pornography sites check users' ages without compromising privacy, was quickly exposed as vulnerable. Security experts, including Paul Moore and Baptiste Robert, demonstrated that it could be hacked in under two minutes by editing a locally stored PIN in plain text, potentially allowing attackers to hijack profiles and expose sensitive data. EU President Ursula von der Leyen had declared the app 'technically ready' with 'no more excuses' for platforms, but researchers warned it could lead to massive breaches. Other major incidents included Basic-Fit, Europe's largest gym chain, disclosing a breach affecting a million customers' bank details, names, addresses, and more across several countries; no passwords were stolen as they aren't stored. Booking.com also confirmed hackers accessed customer names, emails, phone numbers, and booking info after suspicious activity, though no f