NVIDIA and Yahoo user account data hacked

Posted on Friday, July 13 2012 @ 22:06 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The Inquirer reports NVIDIA closed its Developer Zone online forum after user account details got hacked:
A statement Nvidia posted on the forum read, "Nvidia suspended operations today of the Nvidia Developer Zone. We did this in response to attacks on the site by unauthorised third parties who may have gained access to hashed passwords."

Nvidia added that it is investigating the hack and "working around the clock" to ensure that the forum is restored with secure operations in place.

"As a precautionary measure, we strongly recommend that you change any identical passwords that you may be using elsewhere," it advised.
Also in the news today is that hackers managed to steal over 400,000 Yahoo user names and passwords:
"This points to some very lax security practices," said Rob D'Ovidio, associate professor of criminal justice at Drexel University.

As an example, he noted that the hackers were able to produce more than 400,000 cleartext passwords within a day. That indicates that Yahoo either did not encrypt them at all or used an encryption method that was easy to crack, he said.

The professional networking service LinkedIn recently came under similar criticism. Security experts chided the company for failing to use sophisticated encryption practices to secure its passwords, millions of which were released following a breach last month.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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