We are writing to inform you about a security issue involving the President’s Challenge website [www.presidentschallenge.org].
Hackers recently accessed our database, which included personal information such as your username, password, security question and answer, email address, date of birth, city and state, and, if you provided it, your name. The hackers were also able to access data such as your logged activities, your nutrition goals, what groups you are in, and messages you had sent and received within the online tracker.
After we learned about the attack, we quickly took down the President’s Challenge website on January 11 and began the process of determining what information the hackers accessed and how it may affect you. We also contacted law enforcement to alert them to the hackers’ illegal activity.
Please note that we do not keep credit card numbers or Social Security numbers for users of our online tracker and shop. Regardless, we are alerting you so you can change your login information on any website where you might have used the same or similar username and/or password, and so you can generally monitor your personal and financial information.
We are in the process of securing the President’s Challenge website, and we expect to bring it back online within the next few days. Before you log in, you will be prompted to reset your password. You will then be able to log your activities and, for PALA+ users, your nutrition goals for the past three weeks. All of your previously logged activities and nutrition goals are still stored in the database.
We are sincerely sorry for this situation and any inconvenience or concern it causes you. We take your privacy very seriously. Before the attack, our website was routinely reviewed for security flaws. We are currently reviewing our security practices to make them even stronger and to reduce the probability of a future breach.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected]
As always, thank you for participating in the President’s Challenge.
The President’s Challenge
P.S.—As you go about resetting your passwords, we recommend following these tips to make them secure and memorable:
• Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers, spaces, and/or symbols.
• The longer the password, the stronger the password.
• Avoid predictable patterns, such as the alphabet.
• Avoid common phrases, lyrics, or quotations (such as “to be or not to be”), unless you change them in some unpredictable way that is memorable to you (“2BRnot2B”).
• Try using random words that form a grammatically correct sentence, deliberately misspelling words, substituting phonetic replacements (“Mississippi” could become “Mrs.Ippi”), or interweaving two words or a word and number sequence (for example, “kiwi” and “1976” could be interweaved as “k1i9w7i6,” “ki19wi76,” or “ki1976wi”).
• Use different usernames and passwords for different websites and systems you access. Use a password vault to store the various passwords.
• For websites that you visit infrequently, consider creating passwords made up of nonsensical characters. Then, when you need to sign in again, reset your password.
Morning all...just a few minutes before I leave for bridge....Lucinda what kind of bridge do you play? I play and direct ACBL duplicate games. This time of year we'll have up to 30 tables daily. Shuffle a deck of cards and I'm there.
Yesterday after Dash had his dinner Dh took him out front and the pack of bad dogs from up the street attacked him. The Pitbull attempted to bite him in the ribs but his wirecoat protected him. Mind you this was on our front step coming off the porch. The pack of 4 dogs were swarming around DH. I ran out with the phone calling the police....animal control is part of county police. The neighbor's son, wife, and toddler(in a stroller) were standing there screaming abuse at us. Saying the dogs didn't attack and heck they were still trying....to bite Dh and Dash. Anyway aminal control came....took a report from us and examined Dash who was still shivering and quaking. She went up the street and next thing we see is 2 cop cars flying in with lights and sirens running. Suspect that they mouthed off with animal control gal and she called for back up. Besides none of those dogs are wearing tags. Yes we have a leash law and strict elder abuse laws.....plus because rabies is so bad down here must have yearly shot.
Latest on partner's brother was they were ready to do back surgery yesterday but cancelled because his oxgen levels were too low. So back on ventilator and induced coma. She is so worried.
Rie....your poor lovely truck. That's why in Md they always park their lovely big trucks and drive clinkers when snow is predicted....even with bald tires and no brakes!
Lynn, so that is what is going on? I just thought it was site maintenance.... So I am not really sure what that means or if I should be concerned. They say that they don't keep credit card info - so do we have anything to be worried about? I guess they could maybe get something by our email address? It would be really hard to change that for me....
Ok, just a quick note and then I will be back for personals.... A recent study has concluded that obese older americans are more likely to suffer from health problems. HOWEVER.....
The same study confirmed that heavyweight elders are less likely to suffer serious injury if they fall!!!!! Guess that padding is good for something! There IS an upside to a big bum!
Karen-- I am so glad to hear that Dash and Dh and YOU are all OK! Most of the time when pits attack the victims aren't so lucky! People are so DUMB!!! That is the one and only reason that I was glad the house deal fell through... the house we looked at had two pit mixes next door and they ran and barked at us everytime we were there... the people weren't home and they just ran loose--- not sure what the county laws are on that but I imagine we would have had trouble. Had a fenced back yard but 4 feet tall would keep my girls in but they would go over it like it wasn't even there if they wanted to get to mine!! Anyway, I'm glad you are OK. (((HUGS))) to Dash from Ginger and Sissy!
I've been doing some more research--- I kind of like the idea of the Ninja since it will juice and do more than just that. I've also thought of the MagicBullet. Marie, do you like yours and does it do a pretty good job chopping up veggies? I think that that might be a way to go too. I'm SO CONFUSED!!
KarenFla...Hugs and love to Dash and hope he's not traumatized over this. The pack needs some bb pellets in their backside. Do these dogs belong to anyone?
Oh, give hubby a hug too.
Lynn, so that is what is going on? I just thought it was site maintenance.... So I am not really sure what that means or if I should be concerned. They say that they don't keep credit card info - so do we have anything to be worried about? I guess they could maybe get something by our email address? It would be really hard to change that for me....
What do you think?
Hi Rie,
My DD thinks we should change passwords - I confess that I use the same one with everything. I do ALL my banking/buying online so all my accounts have same PW.
If I get up the energy, I guess I will change passwords. If they can link email addresses and passwords, I think they can get into all accounts.
Morning all...just a few minutes before I leave for bridge....Lucinda what kind of bridge do you play? I play and direct ACBL duplicate games. This time of year we'll have up to 30 tables daily. Shuffle a deck of cards and I'm there.
Yesterday after Dash had his dinner Dh took him out front and the pack of bad dogs from up the street attacked him. The Pitbull attempted to bite him in the ribs but his wirecoat protected him. Mind you this was on our front step coming off the porch. The pack of 4 dogs were swarming around DH. I ran out with the phone calling the police....animal control is part of county police. The neighbor's son, wife, and toddler(in a stroller) were standing there screaming abuse at us. Saying the dogs didn't attack and heck they were still trying....to bite Dh and Dash. Anyway aminal control came....took a report from us and examined Dash who was still shivering and quaking. She went up the street and next thing we see is 2 cop cars flying in with lights and sirens running. Suspect that they mouthed off with animal control gal and she called for back up. Besides none of those dogs are wearing tags. Yes we have a leash law and strict elder abuse laws.....plus because rabies is so bad down here must have yearly shot.
Latest on partner's brother was they were ready to do back surgery yesterday but cancelled because his oxgen levels were too low. So back on ventilator and induced coma. She is so worried.
Rie....your poor lovely truck. That's why in Md they always park their lovely big trucks and drive clinkers when snow is predicted....even with bald tires and no brakes!
bbl off to the bridge table.....k3
Hi Karen,
What a NIGHTMARE! I am so sorry that you and DH and Dash had to go through this. Would it help if you had mace? My DD keeps mace with her when she runs on the canal. She has never used it on anyone/animal, but she has it just in case.
Carol Sue, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with the surgery recovery. It does sound like you've gotten the run around. Time to get demanding.
Donna, breakfast is one of my three fave meals. Sadly I've sort of stopped having them first thing in the morning. I had noticed I was not hungry for breakfast but ate it anyway. Then all morning I'd be a muncher. I swear my morning munch monster is the cause of the regain. So I decided to bring my breakfast to work and eat it when I got hungry. The first week I noticed I didn't get hungry until 10:30. So then I had my lunch and the monster would appear. I was able to be strong until lunch. After lunch and the rest of the day, I never fight with the monster munchie. Once I realized how to manipulate my monster, I've been easily staying in or under my calorie range. That I like. BTW, do you make much money in bonding? I'm not sure I'd try that gamble as the ones you're insuring tend not to be the most honest lot. And I'm ok with the bad tidings.
Isabella, you're wearing the tred off your bike tires.
Deelee, I do like your 67 yo friend not putting herself in the old people group. I like that a lot.
Zoe, I think the wait on Carol Sue's CT is more than likely for insurance pre-approval. I know that was why they didn't do an ultrasound when I finally went to the doctor 10 days ago. The office visit was nearly a waste other than the pain killers for the next time stupid right ovary goes nuts. Then they schedule the ultrasound and there's a winter storm going on. I'm not traveling 80 miles over mountain passes for a test that must not have been urgent. I rescheduled it for 2 weeks from today - the day the right ovary (if it's in the mood) will be going nuts. Made more sense to me. BTW, I live way out of town. Higher elevation and we usually get the snow and not in town.
OK, just read Carol Sue's post and I knew it was insurance messing with decent medical care. They're the problem.
Lynn, my friend was having UTI symptoms and it actually wasn't. Her doctor diagnosed some chronic something that can't be fixed, only controlled. She has a don't eat list (looked like anything with acid and the number one this to avoid was cranberry juice), a maybe list and a it won't aggravate food list. She got rid of all the spicy foods and many of her symptoms went away. She also eliminated soda but is having trouble giving up on coffee. I can find out the diagnosis label if you'd like.
KarenFL, I'm glad Dash and your DH are okay. I'm so glad you called the police. It irritates me to no end how people think their dogs are angels and would never attack. BS. I abide by leash and fence laws. My dogs are tagged and I call dog control on dogs that are allowed to roam the "neighborhood". I don't care how many acres there are between lots, leashes are the law. I hope they toss that loud-mouthed nasty woman in jail. It would serve her right.
KarenMO, I love my Magic Bullet but I've never put veges in it. I've made loads of fruit smoothies (including frozen strawberries). If it died, I'd be at the store the next day or on Amazon with overnight shipping. I use it at least once a day for my iced mochas. It blends the unsweetened cocoa in cold milk without lumps. Heck I used it on Thanksgiving when making gravy to stir the flour/water so I wouldn't have lumpy gravy.
Gayle, from my experience with dog owners that don't/won't leash their dogs, they won't do what is right and follow the law. Taking the dogs away is usually the only answer. I'm definitely a proponent of that when a person is so negligent to their dog. Letting them maul the neighbors is the person's fault for never training the dog and not following laws.
Lynn, without a doubt change every password on every account. Take the time. ID theft will take you longer. I got the Pres Fitness Challenge email since I participated two years ago and they made off with a lot of confidential info. Definitely change your passwords, especially your email password.
I think I should work for a bit before breaking for lunch.
Marie
Lynn, when I researched a bit after my email got hacked (ergo, the weird email I'm sure you got from me yesterday), they stressed to NOT use the same password for everything. Marie could say this better than I, but apparently there's a way to figure out where the same passwords are being used and then can hack into those sites, too. It's all very, very scary... because even when we're careful, we aren't safe!
Oh my goodness! I am so glad that you guys are alright! I hope they do something about those nasty neighbor dogs.
On a positive note to all the dog loving GG's, look for "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein. I found it easily on amazon. It came this morning (thank you amazon prime) and I can't stop reading it. The book is completely written from the perspective of the family dog - who is an old soul.
Marie, Lynn, I am trying to go online and change all my passwords but I am really worried about accounts that I don't remember.... hopefully if I get the biggies, like amazon, that it will be ok. grrrr.
Karenmo, I couldn't live without my magic bullet. It does smoothies and mochas and sauces. I don't like it so much for chopping - it tends to make mush. But, I almost never get out the old clunky blender since I got it. A quick rinse of the blades and back it goes into the cabinet.
Isabella, you are inspiring me to get a bike!
CarolSue, hang in there and get snippy with medical people until you get results!
Donna, I am going to call my internet provider and see if they can change my email, too. Hopefully that will help with the hacking if I miss any accounts.
Zoe, I get so frustrated about the medical care issues.... meanwhile.... there are insurance companies with a vested interest deciding what care I get and what I don't. Grrr.
Gayle, enjoy the day off.
Well, I am feeling really nervous about the email thing so I am going to get off here and go change some accounts. I will come back later to get the ones that I missed.
Guess that padding is good for something!
There IS an upside to a big bum!
hopefully if I get the biggies, like amazon, that it will be ok. grrrr. 
