Since its launch in 2011 Pinterest has been a social network destination for those looking to share shopping, decorating and general quality of life ideas, so imagine the confusion (and distaste) visitors felt when their boards had been hacked with images of rows of women's rear ends and other suggestive pictures.
That's what greeted users yesterday and the suggestive images were all captioned with weight loss spam or various give-away offers.
Initial reports of the hack began appearing on Twitter last night but the Better Business Bureaus posted a warning at the start of the month about how the amount of spam on the photo site has been increasing, so perhaps those following that warning might have been taken by surprise.
While Pinterest has clearly been alerted to the issue and has announced that are currently investigating the security problems, they aren't actively taking the offensive pins down as the problem appears to be on other websites that host 'Pin this' buttons and not Pinterest's servers directly.
All the major social media sites have become magnets for hackers over the years. The reason why they are particularly vulnerable is due to their use of web applications, which are an easy conduit for spreading viruses.
According to a recent PewResearch study 21% of internet users have had an email or social networking account compromised or taken over by someone else without permission and 11% of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number, credit card, or bank account information.
In an effort to reach out and offer some online security advice, the Council of Better Business Bureaus recently issued a Five Tips to Keep Your Pinterest Account Secure guideline:
- Report hacked pin: if you spot a spam pin, report it to Pinterest by clicking the flag icon at the bottom of the image.
- Change your password: If you suspect someone has hacked your account, rest your password in Settings.
- Only login to official sites: These include Ointerest.com and the official mobile app.
- Be careful about linking your account to other social media: once scammers gain access, they can easily share spam pins on your Twitter and Facebook feeds.
- Check before you pin: Before you repin, hover on the image and check the destination link corresponds with the info on the pin.
