Technology

Even Mark Zuckerberg gets hacked sometimes

And the culprits tweeted his alleged very silly password.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the keynote address at the F8 Facebook Developer Conference Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in San Francisco. Facebook says people who use its Messenger chat service will soon be able to order flowers, request news articles and talk with businesses by sending them direct text messages. At its annual conference for software developers, Zuckerberg said the company is releasing new tools that businesses can use to build "chat bots," or programs that talk to customers in conversational language. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Eric Risberg / AP

By Kevin Slane

1 minute to read

If you’ve ever been a victim of online hacking, don’t feel bad — so has the CEO of the biggest social network in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg’s long-dormant Twitter and Pinterest accounts were compromised by a hacking group known as OurMine on Sunday. Zuckerberg has not tweeted since 2012, but Sunday a tweet appeared on his profile.

“Hey, @finkd You were in Linkedin Database with the password ‘dadada’ ! DM for proof..” the post read. Screen shots posted by tech site Engadget show that a similar message appeared in the “about me” section of Zuckerberg’s Pinterest account, as well.

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The message is likely referring to a database of LinkedIn passwords and corresponding emails stolen by hackers in 2012 and re-posted online in May. The implication is that Zuckerberg’s LinkedIn password was listed as ‘dadada’ in the stolen database, and that the Facebook CEO used the same unsecure password for both his Twitter and Pinterest accounts, allowing the hackers easy access.

Though OurMine claimed to have also broken into Zuckerberg’s Instagram account, a statement from Facebook sent to several news outlets Monday contradicts that, while acknowledging that a hack did occur.

“No Facebook systems or accounts were accessed,” the statement said. “The affected accounts have been re-secured using best practices.”

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For social media users concerned about their accounts getting compromised, LinkedIn posted a note on the company blog offering some best practice tips.

“All members should take care to manage and change passwords across other sites, avoid re-use, leverage advanced security features and update often,” the post reads.

Also, try to use a password that isn’t a baby’s first word or the SportsCenter theme song.

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