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September 15, 2016 - Last week, online data storage company Dropbox began notifying customers that a four year old data breach had reared its ugly head again. The breach occurred when a company employee's logon & password were stolen and then used to access a file containing the email addresses of 68 million Dropbox users.
When the breach occurred in 2012, users of the service began to receive large volumes of spam on their compromised email addresses. But the company apparently didn't think that the breached file contained user password information so they thought the spam would be the extent of the damage.
Fast forward to about three weeks ago. Rumors started to fly that there was a file for sale on the internet that contained both user names and passwords for Dropbox users. The company began an internal investigation which revealed that the rumors were correct.
Last week, the company reset the passwords of users who hadn't changed their password since the initial data breach. It is also advising all of its users to use strong passwords and the company's two step authentication process for password verification.
It should be noted that Dropbox users who use the same passwords for multiple websites and applications shouldn't just be concerned with having their Dropbox accounts compromised. If you use the same email address and password on your bank account as you do on Dropbox, both passwords need to be changed. It won't take long for crooks to figure out that they have the keys to your kingdom, and they'll use those keys if you give them a little time.
byJim Malmberg
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Identity Theft 
