5 Seconds of Summer improve cyber security after hack

The 5 Seconds of Summer boys have created overly complex passwords for their online accounts after they were hacked last week (ends12Jun16).

The She Looks So Perfect singers were the latest stars to be targeted by hackers last week, with most of their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts being breached, both individually and as a band. The hackers also reportedly sent upsetting private messages to their followers.

Speaking about hack to Australia radio host Kent 'Smallzy' Small on Nova FM, the band admitted their passwords had been pretty simple so they had a "You know what? Fair enough" reaction when they discovered the news.

The group, who talk over each other during the Smallzy's surgery show, said the new passwords are difficult, adding, "It's a bit ridiculous... We're struggling to log into our Snapchat account because the password is so long... there's like 400 letters in it now."

They also said they use USB sticks rather than the iCloud because the latter is also susceptible to hacks. Drummer Ashton Irwin explained, "It's a full circle of hacking... that's what the hackers want."

The musician kept calm when he discovered the news on 7 June (16), tweeting fans, "Twitters been hacked probably Instagram too, brace yourselves lol (laugh out loud)," while guitarist Michael Clifford seemed panicked, writing, "I SAVED MY TWITTER BUT THEY HAVE EVERYTHING ELSE NOOOOOO."

Ironically, on the same day the group, including Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings, posted a video to fans thanking them for getting them to 9 million Twitter followers. Ashton wrote, "Thanks for following us on all our platforms and whoever hacked us... you can lick our butts."

They're not the only ones who have had their accounts taken over - Katy Perry, Kylie Jenner and Lana del Rey have also suffered breaches in recent weeks.