Time Inc. Confirms Myspace Passwords Compromised in Security Breach

Posted on May 31, 2016

Time Inc. has confirmed reports that the Myspace social networking site suffered a security breach. Time Inc. came into control of Myspace earlier this year went it acquired the assets of Viant Technology.

Time says compromised data includes a portion of Myspace usernames, passwords and email addresses, from the old Myspace platform prior to June 11, 2013. Time says it has invalidated all user passwords for the affected accounts created prior to June 11, 2013 on the old Myspace platform. These users returning to Myspace will be prompted to authenticate their account and to reset their password.

Myspace is in the process of notifying all the affected users. You might get an email if have an old Myspace account that you haven't used in years. It is also monitoring the site for suspicious activity.

Jeff Bairstow, Time Inc. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, says in a statement, "We take the security and privacy of customer data and information extremely seriously-especially in an age when malicious hackers are increasingly sophisticated and breaches across all industries have become all too common. Our information security and privacy teams are doing everything we can to support the Myspace team."

Time says Myspace took steps to strengthen security on accounts before a major relaunch in 2013. The comprised data is connected to accounts created before the 2013 relaunch. Myspace has set up a FAQ about the security breach here.