Snapchat apologises after phish sees payroll data leaked

Employees at popular video messaging service provider Snapchat have had sensitive payroll data leaked following a successful phishing attack last week.

The company apologised to employees yesterday, revealing the phishing attack had resulted in a number of employees having their identity compromised.

An unnamed attacker sent out an email impersonating Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel which requested employee payroll information.

One employee fell for the scam, and provided information on current and former Snapchat staffers.

Snapchat said it had established the scope of the phishing incident within four hours of it taking place, and reported the attack to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Police are now investigating.

Existing and past employees that Snapchat believes were affected by the phishing attack have been offered two years of free identity theft insurance and credit rating monitoring, the company said. 

According to Snapchat, the incident did not result in its systems and servers being breached, and no user information was accessed.