Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may need a refresher course in online identity safety.
Zuckerberg was among the celebrities who reportedly had social media accounts hacked following the sale of stolen LinkedIn passwords online last month, according to The Verge. The report claims that Zuckerberg’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts were all hacked.
Related: 7 Easy Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
That would suggest that the Facebook founder had reused the same password for multiple accounts, a violation of one of the most basic rules of Internet security.
If true, Zuckerberg’s not the only person with poor password hygiene. Nearly three-quarters of consumers use duplicate passwords for their online accounts, according to a report issued last summer by Telesign. The average consumer has 24 online accounts protected by six passwords. Among those surveyed, 40 percent of consumers said that their accounts had been breached in the past year.
Of course, Zuckerberg should have known better. Facebook’s help center advises users of the site to create strong, unique passwords to protect their accounts. “For extra security, your Facebook password should be different than the passwords you use to log into other accounts, like your email or bank account,” the site says.
While Zuckerberg’s accounts were recovered quickly, tech site Engadget managed to get a few screen shots of them while they were under control of hackers, who taunted him with claims that they were “just testing your security.” The CEO’s Instagram and Facebook accounts were never compromised.
