The streaming service, Plex, sent out an email to customers today notifying them of a security breach that has left user accounts compromised. The breach may have exposed usernames, email addresses, and passwords. Although there is no current sign that encrypted passwords were exposed, Plex is still urging its users to update their passwords immediately.
Plex is one of the largest media server apps out there and is used by a base of 20 million people. People can stream video, audio, and photos that they upload themselves. There is also content for paid subscribers.
In the email, Plex states, “Yesterday, we discovered suspicious activity on one of our databases. We immediately began an investigation and it does appear that a third-party was able to access a limited subset of data that included emails, usernames, and encrypted passwords.”
Plex did not mention if private libraries were accessed in the breach.
The company reassured customers that “all account passwords that could have been accessed were hashed and secured in accordance with best practices.”
Financial information appears to be secure. The email stated that “credit card and other payment data are not stored on our servers at all and were not vulnerable in this incident.”
Plex did find the cause of the breach and has taken action to prevent others from taking advantage of the security flaw. “We’ve already addressed the method that this third-party employed to gain access to the system, and we’re doing additional reviews to ensure that the security of all of our systems is further hardened to prevent further incursions.”
If you currently have an account with Plex, you should follow these instructions provided by the company to secure your account. Also, enable 2-factor authentication if you haven’t already.
As technology becomes more advanced, security breaches are more and more likely to occur. Be sure to check out our advice on how to stay secure when using the internet.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
