eBay has been hacked in what many called a historic breach with 145 million user records taken by hackers. This breach happened three months ago and we're only hearing about it now. User passwords were among the many bits of information taken so every eBay buyer and seller should go in and change their password to make sure thaty they are safe from further invasion.
This type of breach, unprecedented for a company that spearheaded online security and who owns leading online payment service PayPal.
"There is no evidence of impact on any eBay customers," eBay spokespeswoman Amanda Miller said in a Reuters interview. "We don't know that they decrypted the passwords because it would not be easy to do."
Miller said the hackers gained access to 145 million records of which they copied "a large part". Those records contained passwords as well as email addresses, birth dates, mailing addresses and other personal information, but not financial data such as credit card numbers.
The hackers gained access after obtaining login credentials for "a small number" of employees, allowing them to access eBay's corporate network. A report from Reuters said.
It discovered the breach in early May and immediately brought in security experts and law enforcement to investigate, Miller added.
Security experts advised eBay customers to be on the alert for fraud, especially if they used the same passwords for other accounts.
"People need to stop reusing passwords and should change their affected passwords immediately across all the sites where they are used," said Trey Ford, global security strategist with cybersecurity firm Rapid7.
Sorce: Reuters