by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Apr 28, 2012 | Updated on Apr 28, 2012The twoplustwo.com poker forums, one of the oldest and largest online poker forums in the world, were closed Friday after it was discovered that a hacker had accessed the site’s database of email addresses and passwords.The breach in security came on Thursday morning, and resulted in the hacker gaining access to email addresses, usernames, and passwords. In response, the forums were closed an emails were sent to all registered users letting them know why the site had been temporarily shut down.Most worrisome at all, it seems as though the hacker may have the ability to decrypt the data, giving them access to a database of usernames and passwords that might also be usable at other sites.“While it is unclear the extent of data to which he gained access, e-mail addresses and passwords on the Two Plus Two forums should be considered compromised,” the email to forum members said. “If you have used your 2+2 password on any other site, you are advised to change it.”Noah Stephens-Davidowitz – a moderator on twoplustwo.com who is better known as NoahSD and the former editor of Subject: Poker – made a post on his blog that discussed the technical aspects of the hack, as well as steps that users should take in response.“First, if you use the same password on 2p2 and some other sites, change the password on the OTHER sites IMMEDIATELY,” Stephens-Davidowitz wrote. “However, do not change your password on 2p2. As far as I know, the vulnerability still exists, so changing your 2p2 password will just give you another potentially compromised password to worry about.” He suggested that e-mail addresses, bank accounts and online poker sites be at the top of the list for poker changes.NoahSD also offered one other important piece of advice to users: “quit using the same password for lots of stuff (if you do).”
