Flipboard Hack Exposed Usernames, Email Addresses and Hashed Passwords

Flipboard today emailed Flipboard users to let them know about a security breach that saw usernames, email addresses, and protected passwords accessed by hackers.

Between June 2, 2018 and April 22, 2019, there was "unauthorized access" to Flipboard databases that leaked account information. Flipboard says the hackers "potentially obtained copies" of some databases, and has not yet shared details on how many accounts were compromised.

flipboardsecuritybreach
Databases included Flipboard usernames, names, email addresses, and passwords, but the passwords were salted and hashed, which means they weren't stored in plaintext and would be difficult to crack.

Also included were digital tokens used to connect Flipboard to third party services like Twitter or Facebook, if users had indeed connected their Flipboard accounts to their social media networks.

Flipboard is resetting all user passwords and replacing or deleting all digital tokens. If you connected Flipboard to Facebook or Twitter, you will need to reconnect your accounts.

Flipboard says that to prevent something like this from happening again, it has implemented "enhanced security measures." Law enforcement officials have also been notified.

The company recommends that users who use the same username and password for Flipboard that they use for other accounts change their passwords for other services as a precautionary measure.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

nwcs Avatar
85 months ago
While not excusing a breach, the reality is that security is multilayered and simply very hard. It’s a lot like keeping squirrels from bird feeders. The people looking to breach spend all their time and resources to breach but the security people can only do so much.

Factor in third party libraries with their own vulnerabilities, software vulnerabilities, hardware vulnerabilities, and human weaknesses to phishing and the like and the job is even harder.

After having dealt with various security stuff over the years, working with third parties in software scanning, pen testers, etc. I’ve realized that the odds are stacked perpetually against any company. There are more hackers out there with agendas, resources, and cleverness than there are people available to defend against them in every corporation. It’s the blessing and curse of the internet all at once.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
85 months ago
The bad news keeps coming from social media sites that do a poor job in protecting their networks.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chelsel Avatar
85 months ago
Who are the CTOs and engineers of these companies that decide they want to write their own authentication systems!? Companies need to start getting class action lawsuits for privacy violations and sued into oblivion... then they will start taking security seriously.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
burgman Avatar
85 months ago
The bad news keeps coming from social media sites that do a poor job in protecting their networks.
I’ve never even heard of flipboard.. but then again I’ve never even had a FB account so that’s how little I give a flyin f about social media/
Thanks for the laugh, because it starts with an F it must be Facebook clone? Flipboard is a curated news app. :)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
85 months ago
I appreciate their transparency. Certain other companies would try to cover it up.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
edgonzalez32 Avatar
85 months ago
While not excusing a breach, the reality is that security is multilayered and simply very hard. It’s a lot like keeping squirrels from bird feeders. The people looking to breach spend all their time and resources to breach but the security people can only do so much.

Factor in third party libraries with their own vulnerabilities, software vulnerabilities, hardware vulnerabilities, and human weaknesses to phishing and the like and the job is even harder.

After having dealt with various security stuff over the years, working with third parties in software scanning, pen testers, etc. I’ve realized that the odds are stacked perpetually against any company. There are more hackers out there with agendas, resources, and cleverness than there are people available to defend against them in every corporation. It’s the blessing and curse of the internet all at once.
Yea, like people are way too quick to just start ******** all over a company when a data breach happens. Its insanely complex.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)