MySpace Hacked — Yes, MySpace — for User Info
Guess what? Just before Memorial Day weekend in May 2016, MySpace (yes, it’s still around!) found out that someone was sharing its user login information on a hacker forum without permission.
Later, Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME), the current owner of MySpace.com, confirmed that the once-popular social media site was indeed hacked and that user data was stolen.
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MySpace Hacked
Believe it or not, MySpace still exists! The social network that used to be famous but is now more about music marketing was targeted by hackers, and now it’s dealing with a data breach!
The stolen data includes login details from accounts created before June 11, 2013, back when MySpace was different. So even if you haven’t used MySpace in a long time, you may still need to watch out for any risks.
Back in the day, MySpace was a big deal. Founded in 2003 by Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, it was one of the first social media sites, and boy, was it popular! That’s why when we talk about compromised data, it’s a big deal. The data that was compromised came from over 360 million MySpace accounts, and get this, 111,341,258 of those had usernames attached to them.
But Here’s the Good News: No Financial Information Was Stolen
Listen, I want to assure you that no credit card information or any sort of financial information was taken. MySpace doesn’t do that kind of stuff. So luckily, the only thing that was exposed in this incident were email addresses and MySpace usernames and passwords. Not ideal, but at least there’s a silver lining!
Did you know that MySpace user records are super valuable? Yep, it’s true! The CEO of Viant Technologies, Chris Vanderhook, mentioned that they used MySpace’s user data files to attract marketers. These marketers are always on the lookout for information about different groups of people, like their age, location, and other details. With this info, they can target their advertising efforts.
Guess what? MySpace recently had a data breach. They believe it was done by a Russian cyberhacker named ‘Peace.’ This same person was also responsible for other big breaches, like the ones on LinkedIn and Tumblr. ‘Peace’ even claimed on a hacker website that the MySpace data came from a previous breach.
Uh-oh! More Social Media Breaches Happening
In 2012, LinkedIn was hit by a major data breach. More recently, in May 2016, there were data dumps that exposed the email addresses and passwords of over 100 million LinkedIn users. On a similar note, in May, Tumblr also announced that there was a breach in 2013, before Yahoo acquired the site. While the scale of this breach wasn’t confirmed, it was reported that the hackers stole 65 million passwords and emails from the site.
Fortunately, MySpace has taken significant steps to improve its security since 2013, so current users shouldn’t have to worry too much. They are now using double salted hashes, which make it much more difficult for passwords to be cracked even if a breach were to occur.
Nevertheless, it’s always a good idea to check the security of your social media accounts to ensure they’re protected.
Protect Your Passwords and Keep Hackers at Bay!
Guess what? I found out something really interesting! There’s this cool chart on LeakedSource that shows what passwords people used on MySpace. And you know what’s crazy? A lot of these passwords are the exact ones that we’re always told not to use. I’m talking about lame passwords like password1, abc123, 123456, and even myspace1. Can you believe it? The absolute most popular password was homelsspa, and it was used over 855,000 times. Wow, talk about predictable!
But here’s the thing, and this is a biggie. If you’re still using the same username and password combo on other sites today that you used for MySpace way back in 2007, then you’re in trouble. Yup, you’re pretty vulnerable. Even though MySpace says they’ve disabled those old passwords and are keeping an eye out for any shady stuff, it’s best if you just reset your password right away. Better safe than sorry, right?
So, if you’re heading back to MySpace and logging in again, they’re gonna ask you to prove it’s really you and then have you pick a new password. It’s all part of their security measures. Oh, and if you only joined MySpace after its grand comeback in 2013 as a site for all things entertainment, don’t sweat it. You’re good to go!
