Gawker Hack Puts 1.3M Users' Data at Risk

Gawker's databases have been hacked, and the site is telling users to change their passwords on Gawker and any other site where they used the same password. The management says it's “deeply embarrassed” by the security failure, noting that it shouldn’t have to depend “on the goodwill of the hackers who identified the weakness in our systems.” Gawker is one of the most popular web publishers, with some 1.3 million user accounts at sites like Gizmodo; now their user data is publicly available, PBS NewsHour notes.

PBS reports that a sub-list of emails and passwords belonging to employees of federal, state, and local government agencies has been isolated, potentially for future hacks. PBS published the list, which may give officials time to change their user data before attackers take advantage of it. Almost 2,000 Gawker users’ passwords were the word “password.” The hackers’ goal seems to be embarrassment for the company and its founder, PBS adds.
(More Gawker stories.)