Online recycling community Freecycle reports data breach, asks users to reset passwords
Take action: One thing never to recycle - passwords. Pun fully intended.
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Freecycle, an online recycling community dedicated to promoting the sharing of unwanted items instead of discarding them, has advised its users to change their passwords following a data breach incident.
On August 30th, Freecycle became aware of a data breach on Freecycle.org, prompting them to recommend that all members change their passwords promptly. They have expressed regret for any inconvenience caused and have indicated that further information will be provided soon.
The data breach is reported to have exposed information such as
- usernames,
- User IDs,
- email addresses,
- hashed passwords.
The cause of the breach or any technical controls like password hashing details are not disclosed.
Even if you don't hold your Freecycle account in high importance, it is advisable to change the password and check that it is not recycled on other online platforms, since it can still be abused by criminals.
Update - on 4th of September Freecycle confirmed the massive data breach and advised that the breach affects more than 7 million users.
