Plex requires password change after hack — is your credit card info exposed, too?

Plex TV hack
(Image credit: Plex/Snappa)

Plex TV, a free streaming platform with a premium tier called Plex Pass, suffered a data breach, leaving their customers' sensitive information exposed to hackers.

In an email to users on Wednesday, Plex announced that cybercriminals managed to access customers' passwords, email addresses and usernames. The breach affects 15 million customers, which is nearly half of Plex's users.

Plex urges users to change their passwords

"While the account passwords were secured in accordance with best practices, we're requiring all Plex users to reset their password," the streaming platform said in the email.

Plex revealed that it discovered "suspicious activity" on one of their databases. After investigating the issue, the streaming platform found that a third-party entity managed to access a limited subset of data, including users' emails, usernames, and encrypted passwords. Encrypted is the operative word here. Plex maintains that users' password data is hashed and secured, but "out of an abundance of caution," it is requiring all Plex accounts to initiate a password reset.

If you've submitted your credit card information to subscribe to one of Plex premium tiers, don't worry. According to Plex, you can breathe easy — your data is totally safe. "Rest assured that credit card and other payment data are not stored on our servers at all and were not vulnerable in this incident," Plex said.

To change your Plex password, launch a private/incognito browser window. Next, go to Plex's password reset page. Enter your email address and hit "Send Instructions." In a minute or two, you should receive an email that will give you instructions on how to proceed with the password reset process. Check Plex's support page on how to change your password for more detailed instructions.

Kimberly Gedeon

Kimberly Gedeon, holding a Master's degree in International Journalism, launched her career as a journalist for MadameNoire's business beat in 2013. She loved translating stuffy stories about the economy, personal finance and investing into digestible, easy-to-understand, entertaining stories for young women of color. During her time on the business beat, she discovered her passion for tech as she dove into articles about tech entrepreneurship, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the latest tablets. After eight years of freelancing, dabbling in a myriad of beats, she's finally found a home at Laptop Mag that accepts her as the crypto-addicted, virtual reality-loving, investing-focused, tech-fascinated nerd she is. Woot!