Do you re-use your passwords? You should change them now!
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Do you use the same password for your online accounts? Get ready for companies to start force resetting your passwords.
Companies like Facebook and Netflix have started sending messages to their users as they comb through leaked password data from past hacks on other companies.
Some of these security breaches happened years ago. LinkedIn (2012), Tumblr (2013), and MySpace (2013) affected over 500 million users. However, the hacked data was recently released publicly online.
Some companies are now combing through these lists and comparing them to their users’ data to find matches and forcing the users to change their passwords as a proactive measure.
Recently, high profile social media accounts were accessed such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Katy Perry, and the NFL. While it has not been proven that these events are related to the release of stored passwords from the past intrusions, it does bring to light best practices such as not reusing your passwords for multiple accounts.
Security expert Brian Krebs explains on his blog that these preemptive security measures do not mean that Facebook and Netflix have security problems at their companies. Krebs explains that the companies simply encrypt the passwords from the hacked lists and compare them to the accounts on their systems.
