In another attack {link no longer available} directed at social media sites, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr have been affected by a security breach at their customer service software provider Zendesk. Zendesk said the attackers went directly after these three clients to access information such as email addresses and subject lines of messages sent by users, but reported no passwords stolen.
Zendesk, along with Twitter and Tumblr, have sent out warning emails to potentially affected users, but no further information on the severity of the hacking has yet surfaced. The sudden surfeit of security breaches has prompted Google and Twitter to speak up and remind users about safe practices.
Twitter gave everyone what it called a “friendly reminder,” its first advice being, “Use a strong password.” It also urged users not to stick to the same password across their social media accounts.
Google spelled it out in their blog: “While we do our best to keep spammers at bay, you can help protect your account by making sure you’re using a strong, unique password for your Google Account, upgrading your account to use 2-step verification, and updating the recovery options on your account such as your secondary email address and your phone number. Following these three steps can help prevent your account from being hijacked – this means less spam for your friends and contacts, and improved security and privacy for you.”
Google has also released an update to its “war against hijacking” report. The report tries to give insight into how hackers work and what internet users can do to protect themselves.
Do you have a hacking story, whether it was you getting hacked or doing the hacking? Share in the comments below! Keep in mind it’s coming from your Facebook account.
Source: Venture Beat and Google
