Your Houseparty account is not ‘hacked’, says the company

Most of you might be aware of Houseparty, a video calling app that shot to fame ever since the government started encouraging residents to stay at home during the outbreak. This app, which according to Google Play listing has been downloaded more than 10 million times on Android devices, was until yesterday (March 30th) said to have been 'hacked'. This was mentioned by several users on Twitter. However, the video calling app service has confirmed that it was all a part of the smear campaign.

"All Houseparty accounts are safe - the service is secure, has never been compromised, and doesn't collect passwords for other sites," tweeted the official Houseparty account on March 30th.

The company is also offering $1,000,000 bounty to the person who can provide a proof that it was a smear campaign.  

"We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com," tweeted the official Houseparty account on March 31 (today).

Also read: Houseparty: Everything you need to know about the app taking COVID-19 lockdowns by storm

Epic Games, the maker of Houseparty app has also confirmed to The Sun that it has not faced any compromises of other related accounts as tweeted by some users before. "We've found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts," said the spokesperson.

"As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platform. Use a unique password for each account, and use a password generator or password manager to keep track of passwords, rather than using passwords that are short and simple," the spokesperson added.

For those unaware, Houseparty is a face-to-face app where you can also play games while chatting. One can even connect the app to their Facebook accounts to invite more members.