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2 million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack

EnigmaO01

EnigmaO01

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Hackers have stolen usernames and passwords for nearly two million accounts at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and others, according to a report released this week.

The massive data breach was a result of keylogging software maliciously installed on an untold number of computers around the world, researchers at cybersecurity firm Trustwave said. The virus was capturing log-in credentials for key websites over the past month and sending those usernames and passwords to a server controlled by the hackers.

On Nov. 24, Trustwave researchers tracked that server, located in the Netherlands. They discovered compromised credentials for more than 93,000 websites, including:

318,000 Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) accounts
70,000 Gmail, Google+ and YouTube accounts
60,000 Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) accounts
22,000 Twitter (TWTR) accounts
9,000 Odnoklassniki accounts (a Russian social network)
8,000 ADP (ADP, Fortune 500) accounts (ADP says it counted 2,400)
8,000 LinkedIn (LNKD)accounts

Trustwave notified these companies of the breach. They posted their findings publicly on Tuesday.

"We don't have evidence they logged into these accounts, but they probably did," said John Miller, a security research manager at Trustwave.

2 million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack - Dec. 4, 2013

Kind of angers me that I deleted my Facebook account months ago but it was reactivated without my permission during the time period that the hacks were taking place. The wife checked and it wasn't just a temporary deactivation. I actually deleted it.

I hope this doesn't effect the folks on here with the above accounts negatively.
 
Well, this is somewhat worrying. Shows that the aforementioned companies need to have more/better security.
 
Mr. Invisible said:
Well, this is somewhat worrying. Shows that the aforementioned companies need to have more/better security.
Click to expand...

I wonder if something totally hack proof is even possible. I mean the CIA, FBI, Pentagon etc. have been hacked.
 
How do those numbers add up to 2 million?
 
EnigmaO01 said:
I wonder if something totally hack proof is even possible. I mean the CIA, FBI, Pentagon etc. have been hacked.
Click to expand...

Whose hacking the NSA?
 
Very timely. Could this be the MSM's way of saying "See, the Obamacare website isn't so bad after all."
 
Mr. Invisible said:
Well, this is somewhat worrying. Shows that the aforementioned companies need to have more/better security.
Click to expand...

Um, no, the security breach was on the user end, not the company.
 
TheNextEra said:
China
Click to expand...

Exactly. I talked to a buddy who works at Johnson Space Center who's been in IT for years. He said it wasn't unusual for Countries to bait hackers and feed them corrupted information, or allow some access, so that they could better counter act the algorithms and tactics used by the hackers.

He didn't think that the Chinese or the Russians or any one else had accessed super secret military data because of the use of a purpose built hard-line that they used to access those servers that is being monitored around the clock by programs and personal .

Anomalies are dealt with in a micro second but who knows.
 
American said:
Whose hacking the NSA?
Click to expand...

I recall hearing something on the news about it recently--Anonymous maybe had found some contractor backdoors. I don't recall exactly now who it was, but I think the big A.
 
Carjosse said:
I don't know how you do that, it is the users own fault.
Click to expand...

Exactly. One bad download that anti-virus didn't pick up and this could have given the "hackers" access. It's like blaming Nigerians for people dumb enough to fall for those Nigerian Prince scams. At some point it's user error.
 
Better security and caution is needed on the part of the user.

reinoe said:
Exactly. One bad download that anti-virus didn't pick up and this could have given the "hackers" access. It's like blaming Nigerians for people dumb enough to fall for those Nigerian Prince scams. At some point it's user error.
Click to expand...




reinoe said:
Exactly. One bad download that anti-virus didn't pick up and this could have given the "hackers" access. It's like blaming Nigerians for people dumb enough to fall for those Nigerian Prince scams. At some point it's user error.
Click to expand...
 
EnigmaO01 said:
Hackers have stolen usernames and passwords for nearly two million accounts at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and others, according to a report released this week.

The massive data breach was a result of keylogging software maliciously installed on an untold number of computers around the world, researchers at cybersecurity firm Trustwave said. The virus was capturing log-in credentials for key websites over the past month and sending those usernames and passwords to a server controlled by the hackers.

On Nov. 24, Trustwave researchers tracked that server, located in the Netherlands. They discovered compromised credentials for more than 93,000 websites, including:

318,000 Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) accounts
70,000 Gmail, Google+ and YouTube accounts
60,000 Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) accounts
22,000 Twitter (TWTR) accounts
9,000 Odnoklassniki accounts (a Russian social network)
8,000 ADP (ADP, Fortune 500) accounts (ADP says it counted 2,400)
8,000 LinkedIn (LNKD)accounts

Trustwave notified these companies of the breach. They posted their findings publicly on Tuesday.

"We don't have evidence they logged into these accounts, but they probably did," said John Miller, a security research manager at Trustwave.

2 million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack - Dec. 4, 2013

Kind of angers me that I deleted my Facebook account months ago but it was reactivated without my permission during the time period that the hacks were taking place. The wife checked and it wasn't just a temporary deactivation. I actually deleted it.

I hope this doesn't effect the folks on here with the above accounts negatively.
Click to expand...

What the article does not mention (as far as I can see) is the fact that this is not a "hack" per say. It is users who are idiots.

Why? Because these are accounts that used the following passwords..

password
1
1234
123456789
god

and so on and so on.

To be frank, they deserved to be hacked.
 
Mr. Invisible said:
Well, this is somewhat worrying. Shows that the aforementioned companies need to have more/better security.
Click to expand...

No,... They were not breached. It was users with weak ass passwords. Since most login names are peoples email addresses, then you only have to guess the password. And when people use passwords like 12345678 then well. Companies actually are now stating that new passwords have to a letter, capital letter and number in it, and that helps security a lot.
 
PeteEU said:
No,... They were not breached. It was users with weak ass passwords. Since most login names are peoples email addresses, then you only have to guess the password. And when people use passwords like 12345678 then well. Companies actually are now stating that new passwords have to a letter, capital letter and number in it, and that helps security a lot.
Click to expand...

Didn't the link say the hackers had some kind if keystroke program that could literally follow each keystroke of the user? If that's the case I'm not sure it matters how sophisticated the password is.
 
peteeu said:
what the article does not mention (as far as i can see) is the fact that this is not a "hack" per say. It is users who are idiots.

Why? Because these are accounts that used the following passwords..

Password
1
1234
123456789
god

and so on and so on.

To be frank, they deserved to be hacked.
Click to expand...

stop sharing my passwords!!!
 
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