These days, security glitches and flaws, such as the Heartbleed bug, can affect thousands of web sites and user accounts.
Time to change your passwords.
Sometimes, the issue isn’t widespread due to the particular use of a compromised service, but due to the bad practice of sharing the same password across several services and apps.
The bottom line: don’t do it, use a distinct password for every service.
Popular URL shortener Bit.ly was apparently hacked four days ago, as they are stating on their homepage:
“We have reason to believe that Bitly account credentials have been compromised; specifically, users’ email addresses, encrypted passwords, API keys and OAuth tokens. We have no indication at this time that any accounts have been accessed without permission. We have taken steps to ensure the security of all accounts, including disconnecting all users’ Facebook and Twitter accounts. All users can safely reconnect these accounts at their next login.
We are recommending all Bitly users make these changes. Please take the following steps to secure your account: change your API key and OAuth token, reset your password, and reconnect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
We invalidated all credentials within Facebook and Twitter. Although users may see their Facebook and Twitter accounts connected to their Bitly account, it is not possible to publish to these accounts until users reconnect their Facebook and Twitter profiles.”
Therefore, you know the drill – time to change your Bit.ly password.
