Teamviewer Security Breaches

Leila Sharma

Recently, there have been reports that Teamviewer (software used for remote support, remote access, and online meetings), has been hacked. What is notable are claims that the use of strong authentication, which includes the use of unique, and long/complex passwords was not a deterrent in these attacks. Impacted users report no detectable malware on their computers. However, there are claims that the hackers have attempted to access saved PayPal & bank sessions in order to purchase items online.

It is speculated that the majority of Teamviewer account breaches are related to username + password reuse between sites which have experienced breaches (LinkedIn, Tumblr, MySpace). These site breaches have occasioned the release of between 70-150 million stored accounts, making username + password combinations easily retrievable.

We recommend the following:

  1. Teamviewer users uninstall the program from devices.  Windows RDP (Windows Remote Desktop Protocol) or SSH on any *nix computers, including Macs and Linux (Secure Shell) can be used as alternatives to Teamviewer.  Windows RDP instructions:  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/how-to-use-remote-desktop;  Mac OSX remote desktop instructions: http://www.macworld.com/article/2839080/away-from-home-heres-how-to-access-your-mac-remotely.html; SSH for *nix instructions: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-ssh-to-connect-to-a-remote-server-in-ubuntu 
  2. If you re-use passwords between sites (Linkedin, Tumblr . . . etc), we recommend that you correct this security vulnerability asap, and create unique passwords for each service that you use.  Please be reminded that you can use a password manager (LastPass, KeeperSecurity . . . etc.) to manage your passwords.
  3. If you believe you have been breached, make sure to regularly monitor all of your financial activity to detect possible fraudulent purchases and money transfers.

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