Has Dropbox been hacked?

Many of us use Dropbox to store our files and share them with others, but always remember to use two-factor authentication because just this Monday the cloud service was hacked. The unknown person who infiltrated Dropbox posted hundreds of usernames and passwords on a text-sharing site called Pastebin, the hacker then said that was just a tiny sample of a list with as many as 7 million Dropbox accounts.

“We will keep releasing more to the public as donations come in, show your support,” said the alleged Dropbox hacker after posting hundreds of credentials on Pastebin, but really when will this silly cloud service hacking end?

But, don’t get yourself into a panic because Dropbox says there is nothing to worry about, apparently these usernames and passwords were stolen from other services and then used to try and login to Dropbox accounts. A Dropbox spokesman said “We’d previously detected these attacks, and the vast majority of the passwords posted have been expired for some time now. All other remaining passwords have been expired as well,”

Even if Dropbox itself wasn't breached aren't our files at risk since our username and passwords have been exposed to the world? The cloud service says no, they have a great deal of security measures in place to detect suspicious activity and they automatically reset passwords if it happens.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
Don’t reuse passwords: Stop reusing the same password across all your services like Facebook, Twitter, iCloud and your email account, even if you don’t think it contains important or personal information always use a different password.
Use two-factor verification: Even if your don’t reuse passwords, your account could still be hacked by brute force, especially if you have a weak password. If a service offers two-step verification always turn it on, luckily Dropbox offers that.

Anyone can post extravagant things on Pastebin and claim they’re hackers, but there’s no harm in being safe. This kind of password dump should be a reminder to us all to tighten up our security, changing a password or using two-step verification is free, easier than you think and it could save you a lot of troubles down the road.

The Computer Guyz have offices in Cape Town and Centurion and can offer you a wide variety of services, from IT and software support to managed services and maintenance, we're always here to offer some friendly advice.


Written By: Christine Romans
CopyWriter at The Computer Guyz Cape Town