Cyber Attack: eBay Urges Users to Change Passwords

EBay an online marketplace has asked users to change their passwords following a cyber attack that compromised one of its databases.

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

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 unauthorized 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.

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.

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

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.