For this attack to work, though, a user would have to be tricked into opening a malicious website while logged into Google Photos, and the hacker would have to dedicate a certain amount of effort to the attack, so it was never a prevalent risk. However, as Mases -- who recently uncovered a similar vulnerability with Facebook Messenger -- notes, browser-based side-channel attacks are still regularly overlooked. "While big players like Google and Facebook are catching up," he said, "most of the industry is still unaware."