Yikes, have i been hacked? usernames have been changed from like Jimmy to jim32 etc

[jaquestati]

Yikes, have i been hacked?

family members usernames have been changed from like Jimmy to jim32 etc.

all i can think is i was hacked? is there any other way this could happen?

for safety’s sake i changed my password and rebooted the server/reclaimed the server etc…

and everything is back up and running.

the weird thing is… like my brother had his username changed to something with a number on the end, but is able to play things as that username (i’ll have to have him logout and try and log back in tomorrow…)

is there any other explanation besides being hacked? i would have thought it impossible to change user names of like 4 people on a server? wouldnt they have to change the name in their plex.tv account??

[arun]

This is probably related:

Thoughts on the forced Username implementation

I wanted to start by saying I am not a fan of the forced username implementation. I do not understand why a username needs to be unique if I am using it on my local network, playing local content. Can we not have an admin account (like the email address that is registered with plex all these years perhaps), and then local users for setting library access, permissions etc.? So now, the naming convention I have internally on my network needs to change because Plex deems it so! A way around thi…

[jaquestati]

thanks : )

reading that it looks like this must be the culprit and not a hack

just wish they would have warned me somehow so i wouldnt panic ahaha… and lose ten years off my life/4 hours fighting this hahaha…

[tom80H]

Those family members should have received an e-mail if one of their accounts didn’t have a username set (and therefore now getting assigned a unique one). On the bright side… they can now set a friendly name for themselves that doesn’t have to be unique – they should show with that name when sharing with them.

All accounts are having a unique username set

We’re currently going through a process to ensure that all Plex accounts have a “username” set. Specifically for those who had their default username set as their email address, we’re automatically assigning a username to the account. For accounts where this occurred, we’re sending a notification email to let the user know that it happened. Just to be super clear: Those are legitimate emails, sent from us (Plex). If you received such a notice and you’re fine with the new username chosen for you…

[jaquestati]

my only point is… that plex should have sent everyone an email or had an alert/announcement pop up in the app under our username in the upper right… saying this was gonna happen… whether their usernames had to be changed or not… so people like me, managing the server wouldnt freak out seeing half the names changed to gibberish and think they’ve somehow been hacked : ) : (

still completely confused as to why any of this was necessary when everyone has a unique email they can use to login instead of a username… why should plex even care about usernames? the email differentiates everyone…

and my FIRST thought wouldnt have been “have i been hacked?!” cept my plex actually was hacked a year or so ago… and i only figured it out when things i’d never watched started popping up in “continue watching” and i checked the server login ip’s… haha…

[OttoKerner]

@jaquestati

hat plex should have sent everyone an email

They did. Every user who is affected was sent an email.
If of course the account was set up using an old/defunct address, then the user won’t get the notification.

[jaquestati]

yes every user affected (though two family members just got the email TODAY 2 days after the change actually happened.. and they forwarded it to me timestamped 3/26 FYI)

but not EVERYONE… like me… the maintainer/manager of the server.. i got nothing.. zero.. nada.. zilch from plex…

as my user name was unique enough to not have been changed/affected.. so i… the manager of the server had ZERO notification this was happening and just saw half my users names turned to gibberish and could only assume i’d been hacked ‘again’

again they only got the emails this morning long after the change actually happened… so couldn’t warn me… stop my freak out/loss of hair/life and 5 hours…

what my brother sent to me at like noon today right after he got it…

i mean not sound facetious… but it’s like a terrorist organization calling in the warning to evacuate/that there was a bomb.. two days AFTER the bomb had already gone off : ) : (

[OttoKerner]

I see and understand your point.
I will forward this to the relevant people.