These are dark days for Flickr. We’ve lamented the downfall of the company before, and the latest news of a massive breach of security at Yahoo has left Flickr in an uncertain position. If you’re a Flickr user or have been in the past, you should change your password immediately.

First things first – if you’re a Flickr user or have been in the past, you should change your password immediately, even if you don’t use the site anymore.

In a statement, Yahoo confirmed that the hack took place in late 2014, and the breach concerned account information related to at least 500 million Yahoo accounts. The leading theory so far is that a ‘state sponsored actor’ is responsible, although details are still emerging about the nature of the attack.

The news also comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Flickr will shutter its photo marketplace. According to TechCruch, the company cited “consistent feedback” that the service wasn’t living up to expectations and will be discontinued in the coming months.

Yahoo is currently in negotiations to be acquired by telecoms giant Verizon, a deal which was reported earlier this year. Although we weren’t overly optimistic about Flickr and Yahoo’s future under Verizon’s leadership, if the talks were to collapse at this stage, the company would surely be in dire straits.

It’s shame to see what was once a giant of the photography world brought so low, but we can only hope that Verizon or someone else will step in and revive Flickr as a platform. There’s a still a lot of love in the photography community for the old girl, even if Flickr has broken our hearts one too many times.

2016-10-7 03:00