What Are the Mail.ru Attacks? Am I at Risk?

In July and August of 2016 over 25 million people who had accounts hosted by the Russian Internet host Mail.ru were stolen. The hackers took account information from three sources: cfire.mail.ru, parapa.mail.ru, and tanks.mail.ru. Another 2.3 million records taken from 10 websites associated with the Mail.ru forum were also stolen.

In the Mail.ru hack, users had their usernames, email addresses, and birthdays stolen. Some of the forums also let the hackers obtain users’ IP addresses, which could be used to figure out their locations, their phone numbers, and their scrambled passwords. The hackers were quickly able to unscramble many of the passwords, as well, using sophisticated cracking tools. One of Mail.ru’s social networks, called VK.com, had been hacked several years ago, as well.

Read More: Your Phone Can be Hacked Even When it’s Offline

A spokesperson says that the passwords hacked were nothing to worry about. According to her, the hacked passwords were all old passwords linked to outdated game projects, but the up-to-date forums and games had all been using secure authorization systems for years. Allegedly, she says, the passwords were not actually linked to email accounts, either.

Whatever the reality of the situation, the truth of the matter is that hackers have been getting more and more sophisticated. They can even gain access to your phone’s information when you’re not online. However, the only way they could have gotten access to your information in this particular hack is if you were signed up with any of the Russia-based Mail.ru forums. If not, you have nothing to worry about.

Websites with out-of-date forum protection and security flaws are also particularly susceptible to hacks like these. In this case, the hackers were able to take information by exploiting vulnerabilities in the forum’s software. Mail.ru hadn’t updated its protection software since 2013. If you want to prevent your data from getting stolen in a similar hack, you want to make sure that all of the forums where you submit your information have up-to-date security features.

Bottom line, you don’t know when the next major hack could affect the forums you frequent or the accounts you have. The best way to protect yourself is with PSafe Total. PSafe’s Anti-Virus protection scans your SD card and phone files for breaches 24 hours a day. If a hacker makes an attempt to take your information, PSafe will ensure you’re protected.