In a security disclosure published today, GoDaddy says that up to 1.2 million active and inactive customers have been exposed after hackers gained access to its managed WordPress hosting platform. The hack was first discovered by GoDaddy on November 17, 2021.
In this post, we’ll unpack a few of the details of the recent GoDaddy hack, how it affects customers, and our recommendations for what to do if you’re a WordPress hosting customer at GoDaddy.
GoDaddy’s Security Incident Disclosure on November 22, 2021
In the public security incident disclosure released today, Demetrius Comes, GoDaddy Chief Information Security Officer, explained the details of the GoDaddy hack:
“Using a compromised password, an unauthorized third party accessed the provisioning system in our legacy code base for Managed WordPress,” he explains. “Our investigation is ongoing and we are contacting all impacted customers directly with specific details.”
According to the disclosure, GoDaddy determined that beginning on September 6, 2021, the “unauthorized third party” used a compromised password to gain access to the following customer information:
- Up to 1.2 million active and inactive Managed WordPress customers had their email address and customer number exposed. The exposure of email addresses presents risk of phishing attacks.
- The original WordPress Admin password that was set at the time of provisioning was exposed. If those credentials were still in use, GoDaddy reset those passwords.
- For active customers, sFTP and database usernames and passwords were exposed. GoDaddy reset both passwords.
- For a subset of active customers, the SSL private key was exposed. GoDaddy is in the process of issuing and installing new certificates for those customers.
Am I Affected by the GoDaddy Hack?
According to the disclosure, the hack impacts both current and past customers of GoDaddy’s managed WordPress hosting platform. This includes WordPress hosting plans from Basic, Delux, Ultimate, to Ecommerce. The disclosure does not indicate if other hosting plans were impacted.
What Should I Do If I’m Affected?
If you use GoDaddy to host your WordPress site, we have a few (strong) recommendations:
1. Reset your WordPress admin password.
As a precaution, reset your WordPress password. You can do so from the WordPress login screen located at [yourURL]/wp-admin. Change your password to something that’s strong, unique, and complex. See our WordPress password security tips here.
This article was written by Kristen Wright and originally published on WordPress News and Updates from iThemes – iThemes.