Categories: Security

Hackers in Finland Attacked The X Factor App

Calling all fans of The X Factor UK: Finnish supporters of their own Saara Aalto are being accused of rigging The X Factor’s voting system to boost their candidate’s ranking to make it to the finals. Their geographical location prohibited their involvement in the UK-based competition, but Finland’s residents allegedly went to great lengths to secure extra votes for their local star.

For future competitions, The X Factor app is available as a free download for Android 4.1 and up. Showing support for a hometown star is always fun, but make sure that your phone won’t be compromised in the process. To prevent any hacking incidents of your own, run a virus scan before participating in the next round of voting. Click here to run a full scan for the latest malware now:

The rules state that only members of the UK are allowed to send in their votes for this competition, but since the app does not ask for the voter’s country of origin, it is difficult to determine how many were initially sent. One process of cheating the system that was discussed is the changing of identifications and email addresses, to create seemingly new identities that have not voted for contestants on the show. Those with the app were allowed five free votes from within the UK, but taking a roundabout way meant that “hackers” could get in as many as fifteen votes each. Even with these extraneous efforts, Finnish voters still only made up a fraction of the percentage of overall participants.

The X Factor has come under fire for “riggings” in the past, so Aalto is only the latest in a line of controversies surrounding the votes. Statistics regarding Finland’s actual numbers have been debated on their actual impact, as the population in Finland is decidedly less than that of the UK. Representatives from The X Factor have also come forward, saying that they have been closely monitoring the numbers and that Aalto’s success is not tied to a surge in fraudulent votes.

At the start of the 2016 season, Aalto was in the bottom percentage of the competition, and at risk of elimination. Aalto finished the season as a runner-up behind Matt Terry, but coming in second has presented her with numerous opportunities following the show. All voting scandals aside, her Finnish fan base (and the rest of the world) witnessed her perseverance, and have continued to cheer her on in a budding career.

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