Tech News eBay makes users change their passwords after hack

little_pob

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Auction site eBay is forcing users to change their passwords after a cyber-attack compromised its systems.

The US firm said a database had been hacked between late February and early March, and had contained encrypted passwords and other non-financial data.

The company added that it had no evidence of there being unauthorised activity on its members' accounts.

However, it said that changing the passwords was "best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users".

The California-based company has 128 million active users and accounted for $212bn (£126bn) worth of commerce on its various marketplaces and other services in 2013.

It said it would be contacting users to alert them of the issue via email, its website, adverts and social media.

Stolen credentials
A post on eBay's corporate site said that cyber-attackers accessed the information after obtaining "a small number of employee log-in credentials", allowing them to access its systems - something it only became aware of a fortnight ago.

"The database... included eBay customers' name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth," it said.

"However, the database did not contain financial information or other confidential personal information.

"Extensive forensics subsequently identified the compromised eBay database, resulting in the company's announcement today."

Although the firm also owns the PayPal money transfer service, it said that the division's data was stored separately, encrypted and that there was no evidence that it had been accessed.

It added that any members who used the same login details used on eBay for other sites should also update them.

EBay has not provided any information about the kind of encryption it used.

One expert said there was still a concern that the hackers might be able to make use of their haul.

"We all know that given enough time hackers can crack some encrypted password files," said Alan Woodward, an independent security consultant.

"The slightly worrying aspect of this is that the hackers have a nice neat list of personal information, which can be used to steal identities or even help them get around other systems though password reset scams."

Source: BBC News - eBay makes users change their passwords after hack
 
Still no message or e-mail from ebay yet and nothing on their UK website.
 
I changed mine just to be safe :)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 
Its telling you when you visit ebay to change it , no emails sent out at the moment.
 
Keeping Our Buyers and Sellers Safe and Secure on eBay
On Wednesday, we announced that we are asking all eBay users to change their password. This is because of a cyberattack that compromised our eBay user database, which contained your encrypted password.

Because your password is encrypted (even we don’t know what it is), we believe your eBay account is secure. But we don’t want to take any chances. We take security on eBay very seriously, and we want to ensure that you feel safe and secure buying and selling on eBay. So we think it’s the right thing to do to have you change your password. And we want to remind you that it’s a good idea to always use different passwords for different sites and accounts. If you used your eBay password on other sites, we are encouraging you to change those passwords, too.

Here’s what we recommend you do the next time you visit eBay:

Take a moment to change your password. You can do this in the “My eBay” section under account settings. This will help further protect you; it’s always a good practice to periodically update your password. Millions of eBay users already have updated their passwords.
Remember to always use different passwords on different sites and accounts. So if you haven’t done this yet, take the time to do so.
Meanwhile, our team is committed to making eBay as safe and secure as possible. So we are looking at other ways to strengthen security on eBay. In the coming days and weeks we may be introducing new security features. We’ll keep you updated as we do.

Thanks for your support and cooperation. eBay is your marketplace, and we are committed to keeping it one of the world’s safest places to buy and sell.

eBay
 
Getting more and common these days unfortunately and that's without the likes of Heartbleed type threats popping up :(

I think i'm finally going to give in and use a master password prog like KeePass to try and limit any damage as my reusing passwords on multiple site discipline is shockingly bad.
 
I've not had any notification from EBay yet but I have changed my password just in case.
In Little_Pob's post it says that as far as EBay were concerned it was "something it only became aware of a fortnight ago." yet when I heard it reported yesterday it stated that the attack occured months ago and that EBay had been investigating it before they went public with the announcement.
 
I've just setup 2-step verification on my Google et al accounts as well..... fookin pain in the arse I thought was bad enough but then had to create app specific codes for things like Thunderbird that can't directly support 2 step. It's no wonder the majority of users are happy to remain blissfully ignorant
 
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