Imgur Hacked News: 1.7 Million User Details Stolen
Photography giant Imgur has confirmed that their security systems were hacked in 2014, which resulted to millions of user data being stolen. Imgur was only made aware on Nov. 23 and has since confirmed the news on their blog site.
According to the statement released on their blog, 1.7 million user names and passwords were taken during the security breach in 2014. They are still investigating the matter, including the question of why they were only made aware of the breach a few days ago. However, they speculate that a brute force attack was conducted on the security systems because of the slightly antiquated hash algorithm (SHA-256) that was found.
Aside from launching the investigation, Imgur has also been able to notify affected users that they will have to reset their passwords. The notice was sent out in the morning of Thanksgiving. Imgur also reassured their users that no other personal information was stolen, such as birthdays, real names, and addresses. This is because the site never asks the users for personally identifying information (PII).
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Since the time when Imgur published the statement, the company has received praise from the person who informed them of the possible data breach.
"I disclosed this incident to Imgur late in the day in the midst of the US Thanksgiving holidays," said Troy Hunt, who is the administrator of data breach notification service called Have I Been Pwned, as reported by ZDNet. "That they could pick this up immediately, protect impacted accounts, notify individuals and prepare public statements in less than 24 hours is absolutely exemplary."
Imgur's chief operating officer Roy Sehgal has said that they will continue to investigate the matter. For now, users are encouraged to follow the instructions regarding how to reset their passwords. More information is also expected to be released in the coming weeks.
