It was bound to happen. Pinterest users claim the social network has been hacked, with many noticing that their friends and followers were pushing spam onto Facebook and Twitter.
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Pinterest users then flooded to Facebook and Twitter to complain about the hacks, with some saying that it had been an ongoing issue:
My Pinterest boards were hacked last night… one more time, and I will ditch it until they can fix their act!
— Dushyant Shetty (@dustyplanet) September 11, 2012
ugh my pinterest was hacked! whats the point of hacking a pinterest?
— Mr. Pink (@MrPinkRC) September 11, 2012
Looks like my Pinterest account is hacked. Time to reset passwords everywhere again.
— Asfaq (अशफाक् ) (@Asfaq) September 11, 2012
Great! My @pinterest account that I never use was hacked!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Now I have to change passwords everywhere just in case…
— Ofelia(@ofegb) September 11, 2012
Spam has been a problem on the visually based social network at least since May this year, when some kind of spam-exploit injected JavaScript code started replacing photos on the highly visual social network with ads for US-based retail outlet Best Buy.
According to The Next Web meanwhile, Pinterest began locking users out of their accounts in a bid to rectify a similar problem a couple of months ago.
Pinterest itself has posted three separate security advice documents in response to concerns around its security.
One of them details exactly what do if your account is breached:
- If you notice boards, pins or other activity on your account that you did not create, it’s possible someone has gained access to your account.
- First, change your password immediately by logging in and going to the Settings page. Then, you can delete any pins and/or boards that were created.
- If changing your password does not solve the issue, please submit a ticket for assistance.
- Unfortunately, we are unable to restore any deleted boards or pins.
- Please submit a ticket if you have any idea how someone may have gained access to your login information. Consider whether you have recently encountered any misleading 3rd party apps, if you use web browser extensions, or if you use the same password on multiple sites. We also recommend running trusted antivirus software to check your computer for malware.
- If you submit a ticket, please file it under Policy & Abuse -> Hacked Account.
