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MNHQ

ATTENTION ALL: Changes to the login process are coming.

5 replies

BeccaMumsnet · 15/10/2015 12:33

Hi all,

We wanted to let you know in advance about a change we're making to the login page on Mumsnet, which will take effect from Monday.

As you'll all know unless you've been living under a rock for the last two months we've been looking very carefully at our site security in the wake of the hacking attacks in August. We've done a lot of work behind the scenes, but one of public changes we've decided to make is to remove the option of logging in using your username.

On a forum on which usernames are visible to the public, the wisdom now is that it's imprudent to allow people to log in with their usernames, on the grounds that a determined attacker could take their name and employ a piece of software to crack their password (this is known as a brute force attack). It's far more secure to require people to log in using their email addresses, since a hacker would have no way of knowing that.

From Monday on, therefore, we're going to remove the option of logging in using your nickname and password, and ask you to sign in using your email and password instead.

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can still log in via Facebook or Google+.

If any of this doesn't make sense, or you've any further questions, please do ask here or email us on [email protected]

Thanks all
MNHQ

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MNHQ

BeccaMumsnet · 15/10/2015 16:59

Hi all - just to answer a few questions that have cropped up so far:

  1. You won't be forced to log-out. You will only be aware of the change when you log-out manually and try to log back in again.
  1. We can never guarantee there won't be a phishing attempt, however we have undertaken substantial additional security measures to reduce the chances.
  1. We're working on a 'disconnect app' option and will be adding a 'log out of all devices' option very soon.
  1. Facebook log-in is secure - we only take the minimum amount of info we can and you can disconnect from us at any time. We don't appear on your newsfeed just because you've used Facebook log-in on the site.

A few of you have mentioned changing your email address ahead of the log-in changes. This is absolutely fine - please do go ahead via your account settings if you'd like to do this.

If you have any further questions, please do keep posting or email us at [email protected]. Thanks all.

MNHQ

BeccaMumsnet · 15/10/2015 17:25

Hi diddl - to change you email address, go to the purple 'My Mumsnet' box at the top right of the page. As you hover over it, a menu will appear. Click on 'My Account'.

On this page, click in the box with your email address (top of the page), remove the older one and type in the new one. Don't forget to save your changes at the bottom of the page. You'll need to know your current password to make changes on this page.

MNHQ

BeccaMumsnet · 16/10/2015 10:28

Hi all - can we just confirm you are all getting the confirmation at the top of the page saying the email has been changed and you will receive a confirmation, but the address itself stays the same?

Can we also just clarify which devices, operating system and browsers you're using? It seems that a few people are using Windows 7 - is anyone having this problem with a different OS?

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 16/10/2015 12:44

Thanks, Anastasie,

Just checking - are you still on the desktop site, Windows 7, IE?

MNHQ

BeccaMumsnet · 18/10/2015 14:08

Hi all - glad to hear some of you are being successful with email changes.

For those of you who are having trouble remembering which email address you use for your Mumsnet account, you can find this under 'My Account'.

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