IOTA: Security vulnerabilities found in the code

A team of researchers have taken a look at IOTA, currently the 9th biggest cryptocurrency in the world.
In the Github repositories, they found a serious vulnerability in the hash functions that was able to produce collisions.
Read more here

What i find really interesting is the reply, that Jeremy Epstein (an advisor to IOTA) brings to the comment section:
A direct link
He suggests, that the title of her article" [ .. ] makes for good click bait, [ .. (and) .. ] potentially undermines your credibility and calls your motives into question."
This being not enough, he continues:
"[ .. ] I wonder if one could argue that your article is actually libelous"

I am not sure how well mr. Epstein understands cryptography, but I believe, that as (somewhat) a representative of the project, he has replied in a very unprofessional wave. Instead of actually addressing the concerns of the researchers, he goes for ad hominem attacks.

Several people then add their 2 cents to the discussion, which really makes me question things.
What are your thoughts?