It is one of the day’s news: Mark Zuckerberg will have “hacked” his Twitter and Pinterest account. It is not the only person to have suffered an attack in recent days, and accounts of celebrities seem to have been the favorite targets of attackers. The main cause? Although still to be confirmed, it looks like it is related to the recent leaks of passwords for different services … after attacks that were carried out in 2012 and 2013.
Specifically, in mid-May appeared for sale on the Internet a list of more than 117 million users of LinkedIn, all with their respective email and password. Although information emerged in the 2016, it appears that the data is stolen from LinkedIn in 2012. If at that time you were a user of this social network, then it is very likely that your data is in the list.
Because right now? That’s the million dollar question. In 2012, after the attack, it was believed that only 6 million passwords had been leaked, without more information. The current filtration shows that, as some warned, that was only a fragment and, in fact, provides more information, such as e associated with each password. With all password hashes (SHA1 without skipping) in hand, it is still very difficult for the experts “crackears” for the actual password.
After filtration of last month, Linkedin obtained a copy of the password list (do not specify how) and reset the keys to all affected users. The problem is that for many it was too late: not only because the attack was carried out in 2012 and has been years since (in which it is unknown who had access to information), but also because even today many people reuses the same password for various services and he has not changed since 2012. So many accounts (and it seems that Zuckerberg included) are being committed now.
Tumblr and Myspace, also filtered
The nightmare for users not end there: in late May was Tumblr passerby to grab all the headlines after someone told possessing more than 65 million accounts service with its own password hash. In this case, Tumblr ensures that the information was obtained in an attack in early 2013 and they have reset the keys to those affected.
The case of MySpace is somewhat different but shares similarities with the previous two. As in them, it is stolen information (it is believed that in 2008) that has now been made public. In total there are over 359 million accounts affected, but only have the hash of the first ten characters of each password, which are also converted to lowercase.
Paradoxically, LinkedIN data, Tumblr and MySpace appeared for sale in the same place and by the same user, named peace of mind. It is unknown whether this is the original attacker who was with them or simply is now distributing after having gotten through other sources. And what is worse, it leaves us another question: is there still more leaks out pending sale?
A list was added the same morning VK, the most popular social network in Russia. Although the page has not confirmed the attack, from Leaked Source say that there are over 100 million profiles affected. All of them has leaked email, other personal data (phone, address, etc.) and plain text passwords, not hashed.
What is happening with Team Viewer?
If until now we talked about social networks that have had their information compromised, what has to do with this Team Viewer? For those who do not know, it is very popular software that facilitates remote control of computers. However, in recent days there have been numerous complaints from users who claim to have been “hacked” through it. Some of them even say that someone has emptied their bank accounts.
You may also like to read another article on iMindsoft: Are we ready to talk to machines?
From Team Viewer they denied that the identification data of its users had been compromised and that the attackers are entering accounts using information obtained from the leaks that just used, but recognize that the number of people affected is “significant”. However, some users insist that their password was not the same in both places and yet someone has entered your account Team Viewer. For now, it is unclear what could have happened.
I think no need to delve into the potential damage that a person can do with access through Team Viewer to a computer. Basically, they find the doors open to enter any site in the browser, for example, has been configured to store passwords (in addition to extracting those same keys). Those affected claim that the attackers have PayPal transfers and bought gift cards at various stores, for example.
How to know if you are on the list and what to do about
- Are your data leaks? The fastest way to find out is to use Have I Been pwned. Troy Hunt, cybersecurity expert, has spent years collecting leaks and flushing the affected emails to your website. If you enter your email, the page will tell you if it is in any of the lists that have appeared. You can even create alerts to notify you if ever.
- What if you appear in the leaks? If you used the same password that has seeped into other websites or services, it is important that the change as soon as possible. This is especially critical in the case is the same key in your mail, in which case monitors you have not changed the recovery measures account (secret or similar question). In addition, and in places where it is compatible, it is best to activate two – step authentication.
- How to avoid problems in the future Seeing the amount of committed service, it never hurts to take all possible precautions: Do not reuse passwords, use keys at random and without patterns of any kind (the most popular LinkedIn generated was 123456 and the Zuckerberg was dadada) enable the verification in two steps (especially email accounts) and, if you use Team Viewer or similar, be sure to protect your account to the fullest.