You might be forced to change your Facebook and Netflix passwords, even if it wasn’t your fault your password might’ve been stolen.
Both Facebook (FB) and Netflix (NFLX) over the last several days have been issuing requests to users to update their passwords in light of recent security breaches, security researcher Brian Krebs reported on Monday and the companies confirmed to Coins2Day on Tuesday. The companies are responding to the recent rash of hacked user credentials on social sites LinkedIn (LNKD), Tumblr (YHOO), and MySpace.
“We believe your Netflix account credentials may have been included in a recent release of email addresses and passwords from an older breach at another company,” the message from Netflix reads, according to Krebs. “Just to be safe, we’ve reset your password as a precautionary measure.”
A similar message is disseminated by Facebook, which made clear that while its own accounts were not hacked, some of its users might be using the same passwords on its site.
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Krebs argues that the companies are responding to the recent hacks on social media sites that left hundreds of millions of account credentials, including up to 167 million LinkedIn accounts, accessible to the attackers. The account credentials were years old, but still were put up for sale on the Dark Web underground market for thousands of dollars.
In his blog post on the matter, Krebs said that those who accessed the hacked data could be attempting to log into Facebook or Netflix accounts by using the username-and-password combinations found in the leaked information. Trying to avoid too many users getting hacked, and fearing that some users who previously had accounts on MySpace or another service are using the same credentials, Facebook and Netflix are being proactive.
However, spokeswomen at both companies say that their firms are always on the lookout for security traps and will auto-reset user passwords whenever a person’s credentials might be in jeopardy.
“Some Netflix members have received emails encouraging them to change their account passwords as a precautionary measure due to the recent disclosure of additional credentials from an older breach at another internet company,” a Netflix spokeswoman said in a statement to Coins2Day. “Note that we are always engaged in proactive security measures, even outside of breaches. We proactively monitor our members accounts for fraud and suspicious activity and alert them if we see anything.”
A Facebook spokeswoman issued a similar response, saying that the company has been asking users to reset passwords since 2014 whenever it detects a problem.
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“This is something we’ve been doing for people on Facebook for quite some time,” the spokeswoman said.
Whatever the case, don’t be surprised nor worried if Facebook and Netflix are asking you to reset your password. As it turns out, it’s just a couple of companies trying to look out for your security after others have been hacked.