Hackers sock Jawbone user accounts

This photo provided by Aliph shows Aliph's Jawbone Bluetooth Headset. For those more than one million people who've snatched up the iPhone, there are a multitude of accessories meant to help you get the most out of the all-in-one device and, most importantly, keep it clean and protected. (AP Photo/Aliph)

This photo provided by Aliph shows Aliph's Jawbone Bluetooth Headset. For those more than one million people who've snatched up the iPhone, there are a multitude of accessories meant to help you get the most out of the all-in-one device and, most importantly, keep it clean and protected. (AP Photo/Aliph)

Published Feb 14, 2013

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San Francisco - Jawbone on Wednesday warned users of its earpieces and Jambox speakers that hackers stole names, email addresses and encrypted passwords from accounts used to make the wireless devices smarter.

The San Francisco-based company did not disclose how many MyTalk website accounts were affected, saying that the number was “limited” and that the attack was blocked within hours of hackers breaching its computer system.

“Based on our investigation to date, we do not believe there has been any unauthorised use of login information or unauthorised access to information in your account,” Jawbone said in messages emailed to affected users.

Jawbone disabled access to accounts and called on people to reset passwords.

“Of course, just choosing a new password isn't enough,” Graham Cluley of Sophos computer security firm said in a blog post about the hack.

“You should also ensure that the old password (the one that may now be in the hands of hackers) is not being used by you anywhere else on the internet.”

If successful at decrypting stolen password data, hackers could try using it to get into other accounts associated with swiped email addresses, Cluley warned.

“That could be disastrous for if, for instance, you were using the same password on - say - your actual email account,” the security blogger wrote.

A MyTalk website lets people customize Jawbone wireless earpieces and Jambox speakers with mini-applications or features such as personalized voice notifications. - Sapa-AFP

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