eBay Confirms System Was Hacked, Asks Users To Change Passwords

Image via Flickr/ Cristiano Betta

ebay confirmed earlier today in an official company blog post that it will be requesting users to change their passwords after a cyberattack that compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data.”

The company said that the culprits behind the attack accessed a small number of employee logins, allowing them to then get into eBay’s corporate network. The violation in question occurred back in late February or early March but was first detected just a couple of weeks ago. The database compromised included users’ names, encrypted password, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth. 

eBay says, however, that after “extensive testing on its networks,” there isn’t any evidence to indicate that any other financial information was accessed by the hackers. The company will be sending out email notices to its users later today asking them to change their login password and also encouraging them to use a unique password from one they’ve used for any other website.

Some sources make a point that regardless if financial information was compromised or not, a huge number of eBay’s 140 million or so active users may now have all their other private information out in the open—and that’s not a feeling anyone should or will be able to sit well with.

“The real danger here is in the fallout of such a major data breach,” a reporter for CNN Money points out.

Hackers now know where you live. They can call you. Expect to receive fake deals and offers. Beware of getting duped into revealing even more sensitive information, like your bank details or Social Security number.”

eBay says that it hasn’t noticed any other fraudulent activity on the site yet following the security breach.