Mark Zuckerberg Hit By LinkedIn Password Hack

Last month’s LinkedIn password breach apparently included the account of one of the biggest names in the technology industry after Mark Zuckerberg saw several of his social media accounts hacked.

The Facebook founder’s Twitter and Pinterest accounts were accessed by hackers who noticed that Zuckerberg used the same password across several different sites.

The hack, carried out by a group calling itself OurMine Team, also claimed to have gained accessed to Zuckerberg’s Instagram account, although this was later found not to be the case.

Hit

OurMine Team’s Twitter account, which had been the proof for much of its activity, has now been suspended, but the group was able to collect several pieces of evidence to show it had been successful.

This included plastering its name over the profile section of each of Zuckerberg’s accounts, with his Pinterest account changed to feature the header “Hacked By OurMine Team”.

“Hey, we are just testing your security, please dm us for contact!” the group added below in an apparent bid to get Zuckerberg to respond to the hack.

LinkedIn’s security protections were called into serious question last month after a hacker claimed to have the details of 117 million accounts for sale.

The details, which were gained during an attack on the site in 2012, were confirmed to be legitimate by the site, which moved to invalidate the database of accounts thought to be involved, with users being sent emails asking them to update their login information.

However the fact that such a high-profile personality has been affected should now help other user be more vigilant about their protection.

“It’s been demonstrated time after time that the simple username and password combination is a fundamentally flawed approach to internet security, but that is typically all we are offered to protect our identity and our data,” commented Richard Parris, CEO at Intercede.

“It is time the organisations generating significant revenue from consumers stopped playing fast and loose with security and adopted more sophisticated approaches. They are available, they are easy to implement and they offer much higher levels of security. All it takes is a willingness on behalf of services providers to acknowledge that they have a duty of care to the consumers they serve.”

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