Reddit resets passwords of 100,000 accounts after increase in account hijackings

Reddit administrators have performed password resets on 100,000 different accounts on the website. The site says it’s doing this because of a perceived increase in the amount of accounts hijacked.

Reddit administrator KeyserSosa lays a link between the increase in hijacks and recent large-scale dumps of usernames and passwords on the web. He emphasizes that Reddit itself has not been hacked, but that the increase in hijacks would be due to the dumps and users’ tendency to use the same password on multiple different websites.

Reddit says despite not being responsible for the hijackings, it is still taking steps to combat them. For example, they would have improved their ability to recognize a hijack and more password resets should follow in the near future. Furthermore, Reddit will try to limit the “huge load” of unused throwaways, accounts that are often used once to discuss sensitive, personal matters, by possibly deactivating them. Finally, the administrator emphasizes that the security of user accounts mainly lies in the hands of the users themselves.