May 21st 2014
Auction site eBay has asked its users to change their passwords in the wake of a cyber attack that compromised one of its databases.
The attack took place between late February and early March this year. The database in question contained encrypted passwords and other non-financial data. As far as eBay is aware, there is no evidence of unauthorised account activity, but it has advised that changing passwords is "best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users".
eBay became away of the issue only two weeks ago after finding that the hackers had accessed the data after obtaining "a small number of employee log-in credentials". It added that the database included eBay customers' name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth, but not financial information or other confidential personal information. "Extensive forensics subsequently identified the compromised eBay database, resulting in the company's announcement today."
eBay added that data owned by PayPal – which it owns – is stored independenty and encrypted, and that there is no evidence that it has been accessed. However, it advised that any members who use common login details on the two sites should also update their PayPal passwords. Indeed, Get Safe Online's advice is that you should not use the same login details for more than one account anyway in case your details are compromised on one site, only to be used by criminals to access another.
