Flipboard Users: Update Your Passwords Right Now

Flipboard, the news aggregation app and website, announced to its users in an email this week that a massive security breach left account login information vulnerable and accessible to hackers for over nine months. The company is taking measures to keep user information secure, but if you used your Flipboard password elsewhere, it’s time to change that.

In the email, Flipboard assured users that “not all accounts were compromised”, and that most login credentials are safe, but that it is still investigating the extent of the breach. It’s been determined that users who changed their passwords after March 13 are the safest, thanks to a more secure password hashing algorithm being implemented at that time.

However, the company reset all user passwords and changed the credentials for signing in to Flipboard with third-party accounts from Google, Twitter, Facebook and so on, regardless of if their account was impacted or not — better safe than sorry.

You’ll be required to change your password and/or reverify your third-party account the next time you sign into the Flipboard app, but for future reference, here’s how to change your Flipboard password:

In the Flipboard App

1. Open the app, and tap the Profile tab
2. Tap the gear icon, then go to Edit Profile > More Settings
3. Tap on Change Password and follow the onscreen instructions.

On Flipboard.com

1. Sign in with your Flipboard account or a third-party account.
2. Click your profile picture in the top right, then click the down-arrow next to “Signed in as [user name]”.
3. Click “Settings” from the drop-down menu.
4. Under the “account settings” section, click the “edit” button next to the password option.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to change your password.

Beyond that, if you’re the type of person who uses the same password for multiple accounts (or, worse, for all your accounts), we highly suggest you change those passwords as well — especially if you had not changed your Flipboard password in a while.

Make sure it’s a strong one, too. One of the most common uses of a stolen password is gaining access to other accounts, and the last thing anyone needs is someone breaking into their bank account just because a hacker got lucky using a password swiped from a news app.