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MNHQ

Mumsnet data breach - please read

46 replies

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 12:40

As some of you know, we're very sorry to say that we’ve become aware of a data breach which affected some Mumsnet user accounts

What happened?
There was a problem affecting Mumsnet user logins between 2pm of Tuesday 5 February and 9am on Thursday 7 February 2019. During this time, it appears that a user logging into their account at the same time as another user logged in, could have had their account info switched.

Why has this happened?
We believe that a software change, as part of moving our services to the cloud, that was put in place on Tuesday pm was the cause of this issue. We reversed that change this morning. Since then there have been no further incidents.

How did Mumsnet find out this was happening?
Late last night, a Mumsnet user alerted us to the fact that they were able to log in to and view the details of another user’s account.

What information could have been affected?
If someone other than you logs into your account, they can see:
your email address
your account details
your posting history
your personal messages

They would NOT have been able to see your password because that data is encrypted and they would not have been able to change your password because you need to input a password to do that.

How many people are affected?
At the moment, we don’t know for sure but we are investigating the logs and hope to know definitively very soon. We do know that approximately 4000 user accounts were logged into in the period in question but we don’t as yet know which of those were actually breached (ie also affected by a mismatched login), although we know for sure it wasn’t every account. We have been made aware by users of 14 incidents when this occurred and have contacted the individuals that we know were affected. We are working hard to establish if there were more.

What have you done about it so far?
We’ve reversed the software change that was made on Tuesday pm, and this morning we forced a log out, requiring users to log in again before they can post. This ensures that anyone who had inadvertently logged in as someone else will no longer be logged in to the wrong account.

Where can I get updates?
We’re posting about the situation on this thread, and will update as and when we have further relevant info.

What happens next?
When we have any further substantial information affecting the security of Mumsnet user accounts we will send another email and post on the site.

We’re very sorry.
You’ve every right to expect your Mumsnet account to be secure and private. We are working urgently to discover exactly how this breach happened and to learn and improve our processes. We will also keep you informed about what is happening. We know some of you will be very worried by the possibility that your account has been breached - please mail us on [email protected] if you’d like to discuss your individual account details. We will of course be reporting this incident to the Information Commissioner.

Thanks to all who brought this to our attention.

Justine

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MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:16

Only about 50k emails have gone so far. There are still over 850k to go - they will continue to be sent overnight and all through tomorrow too most likely.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:19

@MarshaBradyo

It probably would have been better to be clear

A few people will get a generic email

People affected will get a specific email

Etc

And no hth

Not sure why it’s so muddled all the time

Yes my mistake - I didn't realise it took so long to send them. Sorry about that.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:20

@Almostthere15

Have all the specific emails- as in those where a breach has def occurred been sent though as they are most important?

All the ones we know for sure about yes - there's still a bit of cross checking being done.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:23

@Tooldemont

Ok that sounds more like it.

Hopefully they go though, although should have checked that before telling people all emails had already been sent and check your spam folder

Yep sorry, my mistake.

As said this email only contains the info that is posted in the OP of this thread.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:23

@marymarkle

This is really worrying. My email address would make it very easy to figure out who I am. And I have sent and received DMs sharing personal info. MN have you reported this to the ICO?

yes.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:28

@TopBitchoftheWitches

I do not believe this is Justine posting. She wouldn't post hth for a start. The posts do not read like her. *@mnhq* are very quiet as well.

Well it's been a long day but it's me, alright. Not sure how I can prove though...

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:31

[quote WhatTheNightBrings]@JustineMumsnet - if someone deactivates an account, how long does it take for you to delete all data you have for them?

Third time lucky?

And no email here.[/quote]

When someone deregisters all their personal info is removed straight away.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:41

@DeaflySilence

No email here, either specific or generic. I am definitely on your database, receive emails from MN regularly, and most recently at 20.10 this evening.

Perhaps, when you are checking where everyone else's are @JustineMumsnet, you could also check to see if I should have received a specific one, and why the generic one did not arrive (I have checked Spam).

Only about 50k emails have gone so far. There are still over 850k to go - they will continue to be sent overnight and all through tomorrow too most likely.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:42

@BBInGinDrinking

Not sure how I can prove it though...

Justine - how about you post a photo of you right now? Given I'm on Dry February and wishing I could hit the Gin at least in part because of this, we'll pretend not to notice you're attached to a Gin intravenous drip.

If only I could find a picture of SoupytheBat...

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:46

@probablyprocrastinating

Easiest way to check if it's Justine or not is to ask how she felt about the result of the game last night. Grin

No good relying on the Toffees to do us a favour.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:54

@kaytee87

So why, when someone has deregistered, can they not sign up again later using the same email address?

Really good question. The email address must at least be stored.

Pre GDPR when someone de-regged we used a hack of the ban process and emails stayed on the system. Post GDPR we updated our system so deregistering automatically removes someone's details. We keep emails for banned users on a database, however, so we can track trolls etc.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:57

[quote whereisthepostman]@JustineMumsnet hope you have a Wine or a Gin[/quote]

I have did manage to sneak in a single Gin as it happens. Popped out for a meeting in a bar and was stood up. But downed my g&t anyway... I now need to go and wrap my 13 year old tomorrow ds's gifts. I'll look in before I hit the sack. Thanks for all those assisting with the "They're going out in batches message" and apologies again for any confusion.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 07/02/2019 22:59

[quote Almostthere15]@JustineMumsnet sorry i know you must be having the worst day but you've replied to others. Csn you abswer ny question re pm for those you know are breached and a receipt mechanism given someone said they haven't had one. And 're name changing[/quote]

Yes, sorry, we've only sent mails to those accounts we know for sure were breached. Not to those who were able to log in as someone else yet. It's on our list to do first thing. Name changes shouldn't effect this.

MNHQ

NellMumsnet · 08/02/2019 10:48

Hello, we are compiling FAQs that we're hoping will address many of your questions. We're sorry that this is taking some time -- we want to be 100% sure on each answer.
We'll post those asap on here and on a separate page so that they can easily be found and linked to.
We're also going through this thread to tackle individual account questions and are mostly contacting you directly rather than replying on the thread. But we will add any answers that would be useful to other people to the FAQs.
Thank you so much for all the comments and details.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 08/02/2019 11:59

We've made an FAQs page which covers lots of the questions that are coming up multiple times and started a new thread if you think we've missed anything. Thanks

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 08/02/2019 18:02

@Daddylonglegs1965

OMG I can’t trawl through 32 pages!!! 😔 blooming heck how will I know if I have been affected please? I have been contacted by mumsnet via email what do I need to do how to know whether or not my data has been breached please in simple terms.

If a user has been breached we will send an email to inform them of this (not the general email that has been sent out). Flowers

MNHQ

RowanMumsnet · 08/02/2019 18:06

Hello

We've now determined that the total number of accounts affected by this breach was 46. We will be contacting those users that we haven't already advised within the next hour.

Sorry that there are some unanswered questions on here. To anyone with an outstanding query: if you could please come over to this thread and post it on there it would help the team to answer more quickly.

Thanks
MNHQ

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 08/02/2019 22:38

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend

Yes, sorry, we've only sent mails to those accounts we know for sure were breached. Not to those who were able to log in as someone else yet. It's on our list to do first thing. Name changes shouldn't effect this

@JustineMNHQ I thought the breach was that you were able to log into someone else's account and those individuals had been emailed/PM'd?
I'm confused

Thank you for the updates, I haven't also received an email, however not concerned with that. I hope your child has a Happy Birthday today.

Hello,

Apologies for any confusion here. We have emailed users who were accidentally logged into an account that wasn't their own.

MNHQ

NellMumsnet · 09/02/2019 09:09

Hello,
Hope we can clarify, now that we have more information about what happened.

This is what happened after the software release on Tuesday:
When two people log in at the same time, there is a very small delay between them (milliseconds), and the first person to login (user A) was sometimes given the account of the second user (user B).
User B logged into their own account as normal; they were not given user A’s account.
This happened on 46 occasions before we reversed the software and logged everyone out.

As soon as we identified all user Bs, we emailed them directly to explain that their account had been breached.
We have also emailed user As to let them know they were accidentally logged in to someone else's account.

On Thursday we also sent an email to ALL users to tell them about the issue. It is taking time to get this email delivered to all accounts as there are around a million.
We used wording like “last night” and “this morning” in the email — this was a mistake, as we expected the emails to go faster. We'll change it for the ones still to go out.

We will put this information on the FAQs page.

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 12/08/2020 18:43

@escoteric

Mumsnet because they had lapsadasical approach my details were leaked and and now blackmailed. Thank you Mumsnet!
Hello

Thanks for getting in touch.

This is the first we've heard about this and we've very keen to look into it for you. Please can you email all information over to [email protected]?

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 12/08/2020 20:31

Hello,

If you don't get in touch and offer us details and information, we won't be able to help. This sounds like a phishing scam, though - we would recommend changing all passwords as soon as possible.

Watch this thread for updates

Tap "Watch" to get all the latest updates

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