Flipboard Hack Exposed Usernames, Email Addresses and Hashed Passwords

Wednesday May 29, 2019 1:31 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Flipboard today emailed Flipboard users to let them know about a security breach that saw usernames, email addresses, and protected passwords accessed by hackers.

Between June 2, 2018 and April 22, 2019, there was "unauthorized access" to Flipboard databases that leaked account information. Flipboard says the hackers "potentially obtained copies" of some databases, and has not yet shared details on how many accounts were compromised.


Databases included Flipboard usernames, names, email addresses, and passwords, but the passwords were salted and hashed, which means they weren't stored in plaintext and would be difficult to crack.

Also included were digital tokens used to connect Flipboard to third party services like Twitter or Facebook, if users had indeed connected their Flipboard accounts to their social media networks.

Flipboard is resetting all user passwords and replacing or deleting all digital tokens. If you connected Flipboard to Facebook or Twitter, you will need to reconnect your accounts.

Flipboard says that to prevent something like this from happening again, it has implemented "enhanced security measures." Law enforcement officials have also been notified.

The company recommends that users who use the same username and password for Flipboard that they use for other accounts change their passwords for other services as a precautionary measure.

Tag: Flipboard
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nwcs
9 months ago
While not excusing a breach, the reality is that security is multilayered and simply very hard. It’s a lot like keeping squirrels from bird feeders. The people looking to breach spend all their time and resources to breach but the security people can only do so much.

Factor in third party libraries with their own vulnerabilities, software vulnerabilities, hardware vulnerabilities, and human weaknesses to phishing and the like and the job is even harder.

After having dealt with various security stuff over the years, working with third parties in software scanning, pen testers, etc. I’ve realized that the odds are stacked perpetually against any company. There are more hackers out there with agendas, resources, and cleverness than there are people available to defend against them in every corporation. It’s the blessing and curse of the internet all at once.
Rating: 17 Votes
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I7guy
9 months ago
The bad news keeps coming from social media sites that do a poor job in protecting their networks.
Rating: 14 Votes
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chelsel
9 months ago
Who are the CTOs and engineers of these companies that decide they want to write their own authentication systems!? Companies need to start getting class action lawsuits for privacy violations and sued into oblivion... then they will start taking security seriously.
Rating: 12 Votes
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burgman
9 months ago

The bad news keeps coming from social media sites that do a poor job in protecting their networks.


I’ve never even heard of flipboard.. but then again I’ve never even had a FB account so that’s how little I give a flyin f about social media/

Thanks for the laugh, because it starts with an F it must be Facebook clone? Flipboard is a curated news app. :)
Rating: 10 Votes
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dannyyankou
9 months ago
I appreciate their transparency. Certain other companies would try to cover it up.
Rating: 4 Votes
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edgonzalez32
9 months ago

While not excusing a breach, the reality is that security is multilayered and simply very hard. It’s a lot like keeping squirrels from bird feeders. The people looking to breach spend all their time and resources to breach but the security people can only do so much.

Factor in third party libraries with their own vulnerabilities, software vulnerabilities, hardware vulnerabilities, and human weaknesses to phishing and the like and the job is even harder.

After having dealt with various security stuff over the years, working with third parties in software scanning, pen testers, etc. I’ve realized that the odds are stacked perpetually against any company. There are more hackers out there with agendas, resources, and cleverness than there are people available to defend against them in every corporation. It’s the blessing and curse of the internet all at once.

Yea, like people are way too quick to just start ******** all over a company when a data breach happens. Its insanely complex.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Gasu E.
9 months ago

His POINT - as is MINE - was that some folks have NO interest in those apps. Especially in light of the hacking of accounts that has been ongoing for several years, it's good that people stay away from them. I have not one anti-social media account.


Apple News is a curated news app, as well.
Rating: 3 Votes
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jonblatho
9 months ago

His POINT - as is MINE - was that some folks have NO interest in those apps. Especially in light of the hacking of accounts that has been ongoing for several years, it's good that people stay away from them. I have not one anti-social media account.

Flipboard isn’t a social network, but don’t let that stop you from getting on your soapbox, I guess.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Jgltno
9 months ago

I’ve never even heard of flipboard.. but then again I’ve never even had a FB account so that’s how little I give a flyin f about social media/

flipboard is an app that provides news from multiple sources (i.e Apple News)
Rating: 3 Votes
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iapplelove
9 months ago
I’ve never even heard of flipboard.. but then again I’ve never even had a FB account so that’s how little I give a flyin f about social media/
Rating: 3 Votes

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