Snapshots

DreamHost Passwords Compromised

Email I received today:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: We are writing to let you know that there may have been illegal and unauthorized access to some of your passwords at DreamHost today. Our security systems detected the potential breach this morning and we immediately took the defensive precaution of expiring and resetting all FTP/shell access passwords for all DreamHost customers and their users. There are three different types of passwords at DreamHost: a web panel password (for logging into the panel), email passwords, and FTP/shell access passwords. Only the FTP/shell access passwords appear to have been compromised by the illegal access. Web panel passwords, email passwords and billing information for DreamHost customers were not affected or accessed. Refer to the following DreamHost status post for details: http://www.dreamhoststatus.com/2012/01/20/changing-ftpshell-passwords-due-to-security-issue/.

IMPORTANT ACTION REQUIRED:

To create a new FTP/shell access password for your DreamHost account, please login to your DreamHost web panel (https://panel.dreamhost.com/), select “Manage Users” in the top left, then select “Edit” next to each user and type in a new password. Make sure you click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.
We are also requesting that you change your email password. We are not enforcing this change at this time as we do not believe that email p asswords were compromised. However we strongly recommend that you change your email password as a precaution. To change the passwords for your email users or yourself, log into the DreamHost panel at (https://panel.dreamhost.com/), select “Manage Email” in the top left, select “Edit” next to each email user address, and choose a new password for each. Make sure you click “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any additional questions about this process, please contact us through the support page in the panel.

Note that DreamHost will never ask you for personal or account information in an email. Please exercise caution if you receive any other emails that ask for personal information or direct you to a web site where you are asked to provide personal information.

Sincerely,

The DreamHost Team