Freecycle customers informed to vary passwords after information breach • Graham Cluley


Freecycle users told to change passwords after data breach

Freecycle, a web based neighborhood that encourages sharing undesirable objects with eachother than chucking them within the bin or taking them to landfill, has informed customers to vary their passwords after it suffered a knowledge breach.

An announcement on the Freecycle web site was the primary I knew in regards to the safety breach, as – on the time of writing – regardless of being a member of the positioning I nonetheless haven’t acquired some other notification from the neighborhood.

Freecycle announcement

On August thirtieth we turned conscious of a knowledge breach on Freecycle.org. Consequently, we’re advising all members to vary their passwords as quickly as doable. We apologize for the inconvenience and would ask that you simply watch this house for additional pending background. Deron Beal, Govt Director, The Freecycle Community

Extra info is shared on the Freecycle knowlegebase, the place customers are suggested on change their passwords.

Freecycle says that the information breach “contains usernames, Person IDs, e-mail addresses and hashed passwords.” No point out is made relating to the hashing algorithm used or whether or not the passwords have been additionally salted – which might be helpful info to know when assessing how probably it’s that passwords will likely be cracked.

Signal as much as our free e-newsletter.
Safety information, recommendation, and ideas.

Regardless, it’s definitely a good suggestion to vary your Freecycle password – but additionally to make sure that you’re not utilizing the identical password anyplace else on the web.

Though you might not be overly nervous about somebody accessing your Freecycle account, you positively don’t wish to make it straightforward for a malicious hacker to interrupt into your different on-line accounts.

You must make it a behavior to by no means use the identical password on completely different websites.

In case you discover passwords a burden – merely use password administration software program like 1Password or Bitwarden to make them each safer and simpler to recollect.

You also needs to assume that cybercriminals now have your e-mail handle too – which can imply that Freecycle customers can anticipate to obtain phishing emails designed to trick them into sharing extra info.

As ever, watch out on the market.

Discovered this text attention-grabbing? Observe Graham Cluley on Twitter or Mastodon to learn extra of the unique content material we submit.


Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity business, having labored for a lot of safety firms because the early Nineteen Nineties when he wrote the primary ever model of Dr Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit for Home windows. Now an unbiased analyst, he often makes media appearances and is an worldwide public speaker on the subject of cybersecurity, hackers, and on-line privateness.
Observe him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an e-mail.



Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Articles