The importance of passwords to avoid hacking… salient lesson

June 7, 2016 |

Regulators around the world highlight in their guidances, press releases, speeches and, sometimes, enforcement actions the need for strong passwords and, preferably two factor authentication.  But strong and unpredictable passwords are vital. Something Mark Zuckerberg, as in Facebook Zuckerberg, should have known.  But he didn’t and his password to his social media accounts were hacked as reported in Mark Zuckerberg’s social media accounts compromised due to weak password. It is gravely embarrassing and has been reported with glee by Techcrunch, Vulturebeat and Guardian.

The article provides:

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter and Pinterest accounts have been resecured, a spokesman from the social media platform said on Monday, responding to questions about weekend media reports that the founder’s sites had been hacked.

Zuckerberg’s accounts were compromised, a report from technology news website VentureBeat indicated, after data leaked from LinkedIn showed the executive used the simple password ‘dadada’.

The accounts have since been “re-secured using best practices,” a Facebook spokesman said, adding, “no Facebook systems or accounts were accessed.”

Zuckerberg’s Twitter account, @finkd, last used in January 2012, posted a tweet on Sunday with the message, “Hey, @finkd You were in LinkedIn Datatbase with the password ‘dadada’ ! DM for proof,” according to a screenshot posted to Twitter.

Zuckerberg’s Pinterest page, meanwhile, was defaced with the headline “Hacked By OurMine Team”.

“Hey , we are just testing your security ,please dm us for contact! twitter:twitter.com/_OurMine_,” the compromised page said.

The Twitter page associated with that account has since been suspended.

Pinterest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“A number of other online services have seen millions of passwords stolen in the past several weeks,” a Twitter spokesperson said. “We recommend people use a unique, strong password for Twitter.”

The nature of the tweet sent from Zuckerberg’s account on Sunday suggested that the executive had been using the same password for Twitter as he had with his LinkedIn profile.

Last month, LinkedIn acknowledged that a 2012 data theft may have affected far more users than originally thought.

The professional networking site said on May 18 that it was working to invalidate the passwords of some 100 million accounts.

 

 

 

 

 

One Response to “The importance of passwords to avoid hacking… salient lesson”

  1. The importance of passwords to avoid hacking… salient lesson | Australian Law Blogs

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