this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
381 points (99.2% liked)

Technology

59474 readers
5174 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
L3s
[email protected]
[email protected]
L4s
enu
381
Tech Company Leaks 2FA Codes/Password Reset Links for Major Platforms (techcrunch.com)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology
75 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A security breach exposed two-factor authentication (2FA) codes/password reset links for millions of users on platforms like Facebook, Google, and TikTok.

Key Points:

  • YX International, an SMS routing company, left an internal database exposed online without a password.
  • The database contained one-time 2FA codes and password reset links for various tech giants.
  • YX International secured the database and claims to have "sealed the vulnerability."
  • The company wouldn't confirm how long the database was exposed or if anyone else accessed it.
  • Representatives from Meta, Google, and TikTok haven't commented yet.

Concerns:

  • This leak highlights the vulnerabilities of SMS-based 2FA compared to app-based methods.
  • The lack of information regarding the leak's duration and potential access by others raises concerns.

Gemini Recommendations:

  • Consider switching to app-based 2FA for increased security.
  • Be cautious of suspicious communications and avoid clicking unknown links.
  • Stay informed about potential security breaches affecting your online accounts.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Passerby6497 34 points 8 months ago (1 children)

it's sms 2fa, it was never secure. We've had reports of sms 2fa being bypassed for over a decade, but those were mostly sim swap attacks.

Unless your code is being generated locally, it's not secure. Email has the same problem because that can be hijacked to intercept the code. A hardware dongle or TOTP app are the only real secure options for 2fa IMHO.

[–] kmartburrito 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Yep SMS two factor authentication usage was officially suggested to no longer utilize by NIST in 2016, and in practice before that, to your point.

This shit is old, people! It's trivial to compromise. Start transitioning where you can to passkeys and start using an app based MFA, like Duo or Authy, both free.

[–] atrielienz 5 points 8 months ago

My bank literally said no. I asked about using a yubikee or something like Google authenticator and they literally said, enable a pass phrase. That's what they told me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

My stupid work app requires us to change our password every 6 months, no special characters so it's harder to use PW generators, and they don't even support 2FA. Nice that an app that stores my 401k and W-2 documents uses such amateur data security policy.