Customer service provider Zendesk is in some hot water today after a significant security breach. The intrusion affects users of Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, currently three of the biggest social media platforms. Zendesk has stated that a hacker downloaded the email addresses of users who have recently contacted the support teams of those three websites, as well as the email subject lines used.
The software developer's products are widely used by Internet companies, but Zendesk's investigation so far has revealed that no other websites have been affected. The company is already moving to work with the three sites to assist them in their response, as well as taking steps to improve Zendesk's own security procedures. The company also revealed that they were currently working with law enforcement to try and ascertain the identity of the hacker involved.
Twitter was the first to respond to the breach, assuring its users that, "No passwords were involved." The social media service also stated that only a small percentage of its users might have been affected.
Tumblr's response gave a few tips to minimize any data intrusion. It reminded users that while most of the information was harmless, anyone who used the address of their blog in the subject line of their support request may have permitted data miners to associate the two pieces of information. They also reminded users to never divulge their passwords in any emails, even if the responding party appears to be from Tumblr.
Pinterest has yet to officially respond, although one can assume that their message will be along the same lines
Currently, there is no clear reason why these sites were targeted, or what the information will be used for. Most likely, the hacker involved hopes to illegally sell the email addresses for the purposes of spam or fraud, a process known as email harvesting.