GitHub said that leaked passwords were used to access its accounts

GitHub announced it has reset the passwords of a number of accounts after the company noticed unauthorized access. The hackers used credentials leaked online after the numerous data breaches suffered by other companies.

Users’ bad habits in password management are a key component for the success of this kind of attacks. Users often chose weak passwords and share the same credentials across multiple websites.

GitHub confirmed to have detected a large number of attempts to access users’ accounts. The unauthorized accesses were detected on Tuesday evening as explained in the official announcement. GitHub highlighted that its systems have not been hacked by attackers.

“For affected accounts, usernames and passwords are involved. Additionally, for some accounts, other personal information including listings of accessible repositories and organizations may have been exposed,” 

GitHub has already reset the passwords of the affected accounts, at the same time it is suggesting users to adopt a proper security posture to avoid being victims of the hackers.

“We encourage all users to practice good password hygiene and enable two-factor authentication to protect your account,” states GitHub. “These attacks often evolve, and we’re continuing to investigate and monitor for new attack vectors.”

Recently a number of web services suffered a data breach, the criminal underground was flooded with hundred thousand million records resulting from the security breaches of LinkedIn , Myspace, VerticalScope, Tumblr, and VK .

Other IT giants like Twitter, Reddit, TeamViewer, Netflix, and Facebook reset passwords of their users.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – GitHub , hacking)

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