Celebrity Twitter accounts are getting hacked weeks after LinkedIn data dump

A wide range of celebrity Twitter handles have been compromised in recent days. Katy Perry's account was hacked a week ago, and over the weekend Mark Zuckerberg, Keith Richards, Tenancious D, Kylie Jenner, and the late Ryan Dunn have all had their Twitter accounts taken over. Thousands of Twitter users were tricked into thinking Jack Black had died, thanks to a sick prank by one of the hackers.

It's not clear if all the celebrity account hacks are related, but the sheer number is unusual. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also had his LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts compromised, and the hackers claimed they obtained his password from the recently leaked LinkedIn password dump. It's likely that Zuckerberg reused the same password on multiple sites, a big web security mistake.

WE had our Twitter account hacked. We can assure you that Jack is ALIVE and WELL and that this was a sick "prank".

— Tenacious D (@RealTenaciousD) June 5, 2016

Recent reports have suggested that hackers are sharing a 2012 leaked password dump from LinkedIn much more widely. LinkedIn responded recently by resetting passwords impacted by the hack, but if you haven't changed your LinkedIn password recently then now would be a good time. If you're in the password changing mood, now is also a good time to ensure you're not using the same password across multiple sites. You could even make your email address as hard to guess as your password.