A computer security researcher has stumbled upon another huge file of stolen user names and passwords that was posted on the ‘net for other hackers to enjoy.
Daniel Chechik, and his fellow researchers at Trustwave Spider Labs,created a cache of user names and passwords for 2 million accounts that gives hackers access to accounts on popular websites like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others.
Facebook has stated that no security breach of their system had taken place, putting the blame on particular users who failed to ensure their own security. “It appears that people’s computers may have been attacked by hackers using malware to scrape information directly from their web browsers,” a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC. They went on to highlight how to circumvent such incidents with Facebook, e.g. by activating Login approvals and notifications.
Twitter also responded to the news, telling HuffPo that they “immediately reset the passwords of the affected accounts.”
Analyzing the newly leaked accounts, the Trustwave team found that the top ten most commonly used passwords comprise 2.4 percent of the total count, exposing that people tend to choose ease of access over security for their accounts.
The most frequently stolen passwords are unsurprisingly the weakest one, with the most popular being “123456.” In second was “123456789,” then “1234” and then “password.”
Security researcher, Graham Cluley, told the BBC that “30-40% of people use the same passwords on different websites… that’s certainly something people shouldn’t do.”
A tech savvy lot, we tend to spend most of our lives on social media, so make sure you have secured your accounts so as to avoid these sorts of incidents from happening to you.
