Mumsnet Data Breach - FAQs

MattFreis, yes, I got that the way your username list is laid out has changed three times since the breach. Admittedly I didn't get around to checking mine 'til early Saturday morning, but it was already showing in chronological order of each time I've used each name over the years.

I agree with PPs who feel there are probably more glitches which are now baffling MNHQ - and us.

It was me who did that, by mistake. I wouldn't normally either, I'd just bold the name. Tbh, though, the number of MNers reporting an excessive number of these emails over the last few days suggests to me something a bit over and above.

I'm going to wait and see if things settle down now, as so many small aspects of the site's functionality seem compromised atm. I'll take a view after that as to whether I'm comfortable here anymore. Now that I realise the 'upgrade' was related to making MN a cloud-based service, I'm going to have a complete rethink of how much I participate anyway.

Hope things settle down for others.

Yes I see caught I abbreviate all the time but not to an email alert!!! Blimey, how annoying for that user receiving, I've never noticed that before!

I don't know what is going on but now the duplicate username is not showing.
This isn't filling me with confidence

Oh yes, I see, I didn't know posters would use anything other than the actual name for an email

Have a look about 12 posts up smother you'll see "@hank" used, the poster being tagged is actually called "HankNPat so won't get the @ mention email, if there is a poster called just "hank" they will get an email and wonder what is going on as they haven't posted on MN for 5 years (for example). They may think it's something sinister when it's actually simply that someone doesn't understand how tagging works

@justinemumsnet re the usernames appearing twice on settings - I have just checked mine and it appears three times? Is this right and is it connected to the breach?

The explanation of duplicate username showing in the history doesn't apply to me,
I have never gone back to a old username but it shows twice and out of order when I would have used it.
This never showed twice before so why now after the data breach?
Very worried about this data breach

Hardly worth sharing given the lack of support it got

Also factually incorrect

Oh yes, I see, I didn't know posters would use anything other than the actual name for an email, or it makes sense that so done else would get the email !!. Thanks for explaining caught

Well that's really grown up and clever of them. They really cannot stop being nasty and underhanded can they?

Oh look gloating on Twitter and suggestion that lots of trans ppl work in IT so it may have been an inside job.

All my previous names have gone. Only this one is listed

Maybe I haven't explained it very well smother, what I was trying to say is that if a poster abbreviates the name of another poster in an @ mention and a 3rd poster happens to have the user name that is the abbreviation the 3rd poster gets the email saying they've been mentioned.

So if I type @ smother (left a space just in case) when I want to mention you and there is another poster whose name is "smother" they get the email not you

Only 1 email is sent but to the wrong person. That's to be expected imo

I'm sure I heard a request over the last few days @JustineMumsnet ?

That would be a massive work overload if that's happening caught especially when you consider how difficult it is to get a new name, even in numbers or variations on newusername. All user names are very close to being derivatives of another?!!

I have had emails saying I've been @ mentioned when I haven't and it's because I once had a username say “John” so I get a message everyone someone wrongly @ mentions “JohnSmith”, “JohnandJane”, “johnworksdownthechipshop” as just “John” could that be what's happening for others?

That's unavoidable.

This is what I've been sayingMatt there is more going on as made clear by the random issues that users are post in, anomalies, caused by the system update that been reversed, but hasn't. There is system unreliability and instability showing through in posts of users experiences.

MN are sticking to the main issue of simultaneous logins. The missing original generic email!? Now superseded by the updated one. There are anomalies, new ones, as you have also experienced

Now I'm being blocked from changing my password, on the basis that the password I'm giving as my current one is incorrect. (I know it isn't - I had to use it to log back in after the forced logout.)

Is the site basically broken at the moment? I'm not being sarcastic. Genuinely I'm wondering if the software is just overloaded with glitches and it's pointless trying to get anything done right now?

@Hank, not sure if it was clear, but my concern is that my username list and what it contains has now changed 3 times, from:

• 'normal' (everything listed once)

• normal plus current (as above, listed alphabetically, plus current name duplicated elsewhere in list), which happened at about the time of the software glitch

• everything I've ever been called listed chronologically with repeats (which has only just happened).

Normally I wouldn't care or probably even notice, but under the circumstances anything that hints at instability in the data stored about site users is of concern. Like a lot of other people, I have mainly thought in terms of preserving my anonymity here behind serial name changes, and this is a bit of a wake-up call about how sensitive and identifiable that data is if not held securely. I read the original stickied thread with a certain amount of impatience at the panicky tone, but 5 days on there still seems to be a high degree of uncertainty coming out of @MNHQ about what on the site has altered, by what means, and with what result. Any update, MNHQ?

Is it not that another user name is similar to yours and some people use a shortening that is your actual poster name - past or present? So if you were called 'poster' and someone else is called 'posterposter' anyone @ them as just 'poster' means you get the email

Not even close to my username. I've had it happen several times and the usernames are literally nothing like mine or like each others.