MySpace.com was hacked and the hacker was unstoppable till he got about 427 million passwords. The social media site may have become a bit unpopular now, but it still has about 50 million unique users a month. Though it is not that popular in India, it is a big reminder for anyone with a lot of online data, to keep their accounts safe with a good password. Motherboard reported that the hacker tried to sell the passwords for a mere $2800.
The hackers released a list of commonly used passwords, and this is one of the largest data thefts ever.
There is always a good amount of risk for users. But more importantly, a point to ponder would be that, if such a big website can get hacked, then why not other social media sites? LinkedIn was also hacked sometime ago, but this time it's a much bigger number.
LinkedIn had recently sent a legal notice to some of its users on the data breach. Data stolen from the website in 2012 was being made available online. The site took steps to invalidate the passwords of all accounts that were created prior to the hack. LinkedIn uses automated tools to attempt to identify and block any suspicious activity that might occur on user accounts. Users also have the option to use two-step verification.
In addition to using a strong password, users can ensure that they change it regularly. Also, if a user uses the same password on their other accounts, it’s better if they change them all periodically.
Now, since MySpace accounts may not be as important as Facebook or Twitter for some, the web is buzzing with people mocking the hack. Here's what people have to say:
360m MySpace logins are up for sale online. So if you want to find out passwords from ten years ago. >pic.twitter.com/StWsp1ubyb
— Kevin Beaumont (@GossiTheDog) >May 28, 2016
Maybe the speed at which >@LeakedSource was able to decrypt the >@Myspace passwords will convince more developers to use >#bcrypt .
— Jared ✞ (@kravse) >May 28, 2016
I didn't even know Myspace still existed. >#socialmedia>https://t.co/Vj3bozner2
— CC Ryburn (@CCRyburn) >May 28, 2016
>@BathysphereHat someone clearly cared enough about MySpace still to hack into it..
— lost in ev (@frozenlithium) >May 27, 2016
