One of the biggest risks of any enterprise that collects information in the digital age is that that data could be hacked.
Photography website 500px seems to be the latest to fall victim to a hacked database – and it’s no small thing.
Affecting some 15 million accounts, the website detailed an attack that was sophisticated, extensive, and, so far, limited in the damage it has caused.
A report by DPReview says that the event occured back in July 2018 and involved exposing user profile information, among other things. In a statement posted to the support website, 500px, the site (owned by Visual China Group) said that all accounts created between July 5, 2018 and February 8th of this year had usernames and profile info like the user’s birthdate exposed as well as a hash of the account password.
Nothing less than a security nightmare, it doesn’t seem like the leak involved exposing user account passwords. Still, the amount of information leaked is troubling to some users of 500px, itself one of the premier photography communities on the Internet.
On the bright side, financial information remains completely secure according to the website. Additionally, the dev team at 500px is taking extra steps to secure user information as we speak.
While it could happen to any website, 500px’s data breach serves as just another reminder of how careful people have to be with their information on the web. From personally identifiable information like birth dates to totally compromising data like an exposed password, being cautious online is always smart. It also speaks to the strengths of keeping a unique login password for each and every account you ever sign up for on the web.
Do you use 500px? What do you think about the security breach? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
