Experts Flag Security, Privacy Risks in DeepSeek AI App

DeepSeek's rapidly popular AI mobile apps have multiple serious security and privacy flaws: the iOS app disables App Transport Security and transmits device/user data unencrypted, uses deprecated 3DES with hard-coded keys, and performs extensive device fingerprinting; researchers also discovered a publicly exposed backend database containing chat histories, API secrets and operational data. These issues have prompted government and enterprise bans, warnings to remove the app, and reports that threat actors are exploiting DeepSeek to deliver malicious software.