Overnight we have received notices of some unusual requests to our infrastructure.

Over a short period of time many password reset emails had been requested from various residential proxies around the world. Our rate limiting protects against spamming attacks but requests got through to request password reset emails.

Many of the requests are likely for emails that had been included in some data breach or have been publicly exposed by their owner.

Password request emails also have been requested for lightning addresses which falsely exposed the user's email address. This had been a feature deployed to help users keep easy access to their accounts. But as many users post their lightning address on profiles like nostr this should not be exposed and a fix has been deployed immediately. Generally there should be no way to display a user's email address. We have failed here. About 5500 password reset emails had been requested by the attacker.

**We have not seen any abnormal related login activity and accounts are safe. People who got a password reset email can ignore the email.**

As we have seen a general increase in attacks on user accounts trying to brute force logins with some emails from some data leaks we have fully disabled password logins and require all users to login with the one time token. This adds an another layer of security.

Additionally we also offer the option to login with Google.

If you have questions or feedback, please let us know: support.getalby.com

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Discussion

This isn't really a very good explanation. We get that mistakes can happen, but this could have been extremely bad.

It sucks, but at least they own it.

So what can you dol

How come the ‘from’ address is a @getalby.com email? Did they break into your server?

Reset password email will come from alby since it was requested from their website.

They don't break any server, by using your public alby address in nostr, they just requested a password reset. This is not scam email, it's real email from Alby. The hack consists of that they can get your email from your Alby address, but to do so they have to trigger password reset. Everything is pretty safe, don't worry. Just make sure use strong passwords and have in mind for any incoming emails with email address connected to Alby account

that's correct. and we're very sorry this happened. we couldn't filter all requests and reset emails have been requested.

that email can be ignored and for additional security we now also enforce login with an one time token.

It's definitely unpleasant that it happened. But one must be careful on the internet. I personally, using tools to check for data leaks, have seen emails leaked from other much bigger companies and software. That's why personal culture regarding cybersecurity is an important thing. I'm also 99% sure that a large part of these emails have already been leaked somewhere else. That's why it's good to use email masking services.

yes, many requests we see originate from emails that also don't have accounts with Alby. There are many brute force attacks out there in the wild internet sadly.

Using alias email addresses like the ones proton offers is encouraged.

The transparency is a good start, but you haven't covered the case where a) an unique email address was used that only Alby had and b) wasn't used as lightning address visible anywhere publicly

Please note: only Alby Accounts use email-based login. Alby Hub, the Alby Browser Extension, and Alby Go are not affected.

Good you informed this

Thank you for the transparency.

Just a note, my alby login email address has only ever been used wirh alby so it couldn't have come from another data leak.

Same situation here

aren't this economic valid requests because they are technically possible and filters dont work?!🎉🤔😎

Same

Same here

They said password requests were also made against lightning address which is public information.

That shouldn’t be possible going forward 🙏

Yep - good to see it's fixed. Thanks nostr:nprofile1qqsyv47lazt9h6ycp2fsw270khje5egjgsrdkrupjg27u796g7f5k0spzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhszymhwden5te0wp6hyurvv4cxzeewv4ej7hjm7rj for quick turnaround

I want to point out I saw this posted on NOSTR yesterday which was pretty instant and the fact a thread of people calling out to Alby for information worked so well... And alby gets back to us with nostr... Its just so great to see!

In this case are you guys going to change account email if your reset was triggered by lightning address?

I changed mine cause I don’t just have one email address.

Email alias for the win

I didn't have a public lightning address. My account email address was only known by Alby

Same here, I realized it was a data breach as the email address I used for Alby was made only for that.

Let's not jump to conclusions without an official statement.

The email address can leak via other channels as well from an Internet connected device...

That was a failure. Good that you already used a dedicated address.

Let us know if we can improve other things: https://feedback.getalby.com/-alby-accounts-request-a-feature-1

You wanna talk security and you add the word GOOGLE 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️. I will never use Alby.

You used the word too too, I will block you now.

Confirmed. I have a request to reset my password and I’m not subscribed anymore after having my keys surprisingly changed and lost access to one of my primal accounts.

Nostr keys are saved locally and encrypted in the Alby Extension and are not affected in any way. Please contact Alby support and we can see if there's any way you are able to recover your lost primal account.

I came home and I was surprisingly log out, when I tried and connect my keys were not recognised so I lost access to it , including my primal account.

I uninstall the extension but I’m still getting emails and paying ?!

Hey Susana, the Alby Browser Extension is open-source. You can check all changes and verify that there was no update that could have caused such a behavior: https://github.com/getAlby/lightning-browser-extension

Thanks to the email I’ve realized that custom self hosted @ addresses are now very expansive 😢

with custom self hosted @ address you mean using your own domain? That's possible and free: https://guides.getalby.com/user-guide/alby-account/customize-your-lightning-address/use-your-own-domain-as-lightning-address

Thank you 🙏

My friend send transfer 1000$ to her Alby hub and she expect received soon . Been 2 days .

Please ask her to reach out via support.getalby.com so that we can check what exactly happened.

I think she will received it’s just this is the first time so she will wait til 3 days . You guys mentioned this on your website . It will take 2-3 working days if I am not mistaken .

Right ?

Lightning payments are instant. Fiat payments related to one of the integrated exchange providers depend on there terms of service.

She has alby cloud pro hub , when she wants to top up her bitcoin , she need to buy bitcoin and through the third payment system like Mt. pelerin .. is it not right ? This is not transfer from lightning to lightning payment ..?

Don’t you not know this ?

Good to know that she used Mt.Pelerin. If she did KYC, she should receive it on the same day depending on the payment method she used.

If she didn't do KYC, she needs to wait 7 days. That's Mt.Pelerin's policy to ensure they are not scammed.

Hey nostr:nprofile1qqsyv47lazt9h6ycp2fsw270khje5egjgsrdkrupjg27u796g7f5k0spremhxue69uhkummnw3ez6ur4vgh8wetvd3hhyer9wghxuet59uq3xamnwvaz7tmsw4e8qmr9wpskwtn9wvhsdymxeg - please allow passkey login. My account shouldn’t be constrained solely by email. Email is not a suitable 2FA method. Username + password + TOTP or email token + TOTP are good, but Passkey is better because it requires a device you possess already and doesn’t rely on email that’s phishable. I’ve seen other sites go further and require TOTP after a Passkey too, fwiw. Point being, give uses the option for real 2FA decoupled from email.

I'd love passkeys in Alby! Passed it on

Thanks for your feedback Gene and sorry for the mistake.

Could you add your ideas to our feedback board then we can prioritize it: https://feedback.getalby.com/-alby-accounts-request-a-feature-1

Confirmed, I was also affected by this. Thought it was odd. But don’t use Alby for much so just shrugged it off, thanks for the info!

Thank you for the update!

I changed my email and disabled password logins as well when I got the password reset request email!

Would prefer using TOTP with an Authenticator instead of email though but I couldn’t find that in the settings.

Thanks for acting and sorry again.

Could you upvote or add other features to our feedback board? https://feedback.getalby.com/-alby-accounts-request-a-feature-1

“Hide My Email” is probably one of my favorite iOS features.

Websites really need to stop using email as an authentication method. There are better options that preserve privacy.

when time sync MFA?

For info, the email resets received on our side were set up specifically for internal testing and never shared anywhere

Good luck with the investigation and thanks for the transparency! Hope we can all learn something.

Thanks for your understanding and sorry for the mistake. We are getting better.

this password reset feels like the tip of an iceberg.

leaking emails on reset? credential stuffing?

this is basic stuff in auth, which brings my to my next point: this screams a homerolled auth system by someone with little experience or a lapse in judgment. id bet the former. wonder what else you’d fine if you looked around. good time to double check those cookie settings and maybe google “owasp top 10”

nostr:nevent1qqswh5upmuma0h89vdnh7pnk6ap637xg0mtt0k32hwaxrxm98vuv28cpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhg0f4n4v

If the service wasn't already shitty enough. Charging way too much money and the service is crap. Can't even talk to a person without paying. Now they leaked my personal data. Great. Thanks for nothing

If you really want you can get in touch with Alby anytime using the chat widget on support.getalby.com and I bet you'll receive a reply within 12 hours from a human, not a bot.

accounts? where we are going we wont need accounts. #NDN

2FA would be nice ⚡️

Thanks for your feedback. If you could upvote and leave add other ideas here: https://feedback.getalby.com/-alby-accounts-request-a-feature-1/posts/offer-2fa-for-account-login

That would be great.

Done ⚡️

nostr:nprofile1qqsrf5h4ya83jk8u6t9jgc76h6kalz3plp9vusjpm2ygqgalqhxgp9gpzemhxue69uhkzarvv9ejumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgkwaehxw309a3xjarrda5kuetj9eek7cmfv9kqs6xl8h coming in with the steel chair. 💪

I actually noticed a request from my email to reset my password that happened yesterday and I just happened to try and reset it today and noticed it while i was searching my inbox.

Let us know, if we can help anytime: support.getalby.com

please allow passkey

Thanks for the feedback.

I have already canceled my subscription a few weeks ago …

Any advice on how to manage this.