If you recently got an email from eBay asking you to change your passwords, then this is one advice you should definitely take up on. The web’s premiere marketplace was recently hacked.
The company confirmed the cyberattack, which according to some estimates may have affected more than 145 million accounts — exposing personal information like usernames, passwords and emails. Worse yet? These details could potentially be used to launch phishing attacks.
This is the official statement released by eBay:
“Information security and customer data protection are of paramount importance to eBay Inc., and eBay regrets any inconvenience or concern that this password reset may cause our customers. We know our customers trust us with their information, and we take seriously our commitment to maintaining a safe, secure and trusted global marketplace.”
An ongoing investigation from eBay revealed that attacker compromised a small number of employee login credentials, which ultimately provided them with access to the company’s corporate network.
Investigators have found no evidence that the hack led to any sort of authorized access.
Now, since PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay, it is no coincidence that PayPal members have been the targets of phishing attempts — even though eBay maintains that the payment network has not been affected by this breach.
However, PayPal users are reporting that suspicious emails (that look rather legitimate) started coming since March this year, which shows that things go back a few months here.
Our advice? Change all your important passwords, if you are related in any way to PayPal or eBay. In fact, change your passwords anyway, write them down, and keep them in a safe place.