What we do know is that getting a little media exposure has triggered a mini-Yo-mania, with the app getting a huge surge in downloads and traffic. Before appearing in the media earlier this week, Yo had reported about 4 million messages sent in the 10 weeks since it launched on April Fools' Day. The company said it handled 3.7 million messages on Thursday alone.

The media spotlight on Yo also has attracted hackers, who with lightning speed uncovered a series of big and small security issues. TechCrunch was first with the story earlier Friday, reporting on the exploits of a Georgia Tech student:

The student emailed TechCrunch detailing what he alleges are the results of the hack: “We can get any Yo user’s phone number (I actually texted the founder, and he called me back.) We can spoof Yos from any users, and we can spam any user with as many Yos as we want. We could also send any Yo user a push notification with any text we want (though we decided not to do that.)”

Yo's creator, Or Arbel, confirmed both the Georgia Tech hack and other security breaches. The company said via Twitter, "We are working on the securities issues that came to our attention. We want you to know we take this very seriously."

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Yo: Publicized, Popular and Now Hacked

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