Compromised Account Passwords

[Darren]

Hi All
We have recently noticed a number of legit accounts having been hijacked by spammers and posting unwanted content on the site, some not visited the site nor posted previously so some of these accounts are many years old.

I dare say this is due to poor complexity or should I say passwords which have been dumped out on the web after a site had been compromised.

A couple of suggestions which might seem blatantly obvious to some but others not so:

• Use different passwords on each web site, don't use the same password for everything this is just asking for trouble.
• Ensure passwords are complex, ie add a mixture of numbers, letters, symbols or even better use a password manager and/or password generator, Bitwarden, KeePass etc take your pick but most are free and offer browser extensions to save passwords along with the headache of remembering them all.
• Enable 2FA / MFA (done through password and security under your profile), in short you use your password as normal but then have the added layer of security using a 6 digit number, I personally use Authy but take your pick here and feel free to post suggestions.

If you suspect your account has been compromised by all means reach out.

Cheers
Darren

 

[Martbar]

Hi All
We have recently noticed a number of legit accounts having been hijacked by spammers and posting unwanted content on the site, some not visited the site nor posted previously so some of these accounts are many years old.

I dare say this is due to poor complexity or should I say passwords which have been dumped out on the web after a site had been compromised.

A couple of suggestions which might seem blatantly obvious to some but others not so:

• Use different passwords on each web site, don't use the same password for everything this is just asking for trouble.
• Ensure passwords are complex, ie add a mixture of numbers, letters, symbols or even better use a password manager and/or password generator, Bitwarden, KeePass etc take your pick but most are free and offer browser extensions to save passwords along with the headache of remembering them all.
• Enable 2FA / MFA (done through password and security under your profile), in short you use your password as normal but then have the added layer of security using a 6 digit number, I personally use Authy but take your pick here and feel free to post suggestions.

If you suspect your account has been compromised by all means reach out.

Cheers
Darren

Cheers Darren, before they put a stop to it, in an alarming number of passwords where only numerals were required, the 6 digits were 1,2,3,4,5,6.

 

[Fu Manchu]

Cheers Darren, before they put a stop to it, in an alarming number of passwords where only numerals were required, the 6 digits were 1,2,3,4,5,6.

To quote SpaceBalls:
“1,2,3,4,5? That’s the kind of combination only an idiot would have on their luggage.”

 

[vc commodore]

To quote SpaceBalls:
“1,2,3,4,5? That’s the kind of combination only an idiot would have on their luggage.”

Thanks for advertising my password....I've now got to change it to 1,3,2,5,4.....

 

[vc commodore]

With my work pay advises, it's done over the net.

Every 3 months the password has to be changed...If it's what is considered as a week password, it refuses to accept the password...

When I log into the site, it also sends a code to either my email addy or my phone...

At first I thought it was overkill, but I soon realised how much they want to protect your information

 

[Immortality]

We had a generic password at work on the production PC's Password1

 

[Lex]

We had a generic password at work on the production PC's Password1

Was it hooked up to the internet?

 

[Commo64]

So I guess the issue is mainly to do with inactive accounts or very old accounts?

Some other forums that I'm on have a manual registration process, which means that your account isn't automatically approved... My suggestion might be worth looking at to reduce the number of spammers...

 

[figjam]

Thanks for advertising my password....I've now got to change it to 1,3,2,5,4.....

How about something that a non-Holden person would never guess ...... 1 5 3 6 2 4.

But, seriously ...... how do you change your password on JC ?

 

[UTE042_NZ]

Password managers can and often are compromised. Norton and LastPass were both "hacked" last year, with in excess of 30 million users affected globally. The ruse is often simply getting users to click on a link for a fake product update. Lazy fools get shafted easier. These recent ones might be from some of those farmings.