TMCnet Feature Free eNews Subscription
July 13, 2012

Yahoo Loses its Voices: Over 450k Users' Account Info Hacked

By Robbie Pleasant, TMCnet Contributor

“Yahoo” is not the right word for the company’s current situation, as it recently lost around 450,000 user e-mail addresses and passwords in a hacking attack. The Yahoo! Voices site, previously known as Associated Content, took the hit in a SQL injection attack, normally preventable through routine tests.



The responsible group, going by the monicker “D33ds Company” (presumably “Deeds” in l33tspeak), claims they did it to prove the many security holes in Yahoo’s servers; the passwords they stole weren’t even encrypted, and were in plain and simple text for anyone to read.

Most common among the passwords were “123456” (“The sort of password an idiot has on his luggage,” to quote Dark Helmet), “password” and “welcome” – most of which contained only lowercase letters and no numbers or punctuation marks.

“Yahoo! Voices” tends to focus on content from Yahoo users, purchased as “Associated Content” in 2010. This is not to be mistaken for “Yahoo! Voice,” its voice messaging service. Anyone with an account for Associated Content or Yahoo! Voices is advised to change their passwords immediately, and think up something more complex than “password.”

This isn’t the first hacking attack in recent news, and it’s not likely to be the last either. LinkedIn (News - Alert) took a hit recently as well, compromising many more passwords. And as many people tend to use the same or similar passwords in multiple websites, losing one can compromise their accounts everywhere else. This should prove as a stark warning to websites everywhere about security and password protection; leaving holes in one’s security system just makes it an easy target for hackers.

It should also stand as a warning to people who use simple passwords – make them complex and vary them up, otherwise they’re easy pickings. It would be nice to not have to worry about hackers and password protection, but this is the world we live in, so security is not to be overlooked.


Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend
ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.


Robert Pleasant is a writer for TMCnet, covering new news in the world of technology and communications. A graduate from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Literature, Robert has been writing for years, but has only recently had his reports start appearing on websites such as TMCnet and UCStrategies.

Edited by Braden Becker
» More TMCnet Feature Articles
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

LATEST TMCNET ARTICLES

» More TMCnet Feature Articles