404 Media reports that a researcher has found a vulnerability in Apple’s Hide My Email feature that could allow someone to discover a person’s real email address.
That’s especially concerning because protecting your real email address is exactly what the feature is designed to do. 404 Media did not publish technical details of the vulnerability to avoid helping attackers exploit it, but said it independently verified that the issue works.
Hide My Email generates:
“Unique, random email addresses that automatically forward to your personal email inbox. Each address is unique to you. You can read and respond directly to emails sent to these addresses and your personal email address is kept private.”
Instead of giving a website or app your real email address when you sign up, you can give it one of these randomly generated addresses. Messages are forwarded to your normal inbox, but the sender shouldn’t be able to see your real email address. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.
