Here's Why You Need to Change Your eBay Password Right Now
The world's biggest online marketplace has been hacked. Those weird warning messages weren't a false alarm.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The rumors are true. eBay has just confirmed that it was hacked.
If you have an account with the world's biggest online marketplace, drop whatever you're doing and change your password. Now.
So, yes, it turns out that eBay's bizarre disappearing warning messages earlier this morning weren't issued for nothing. Someone apparently pulled the trigger on them before they were complete.
eBay asks all users to change passwords due to cyberattack that compromised non-financial info in a database: http://t.co/as09EdsCBv
— eBay (@eBay) May 21, 2014Related: Your Password is 1234567? Wow. Seriously?
Only moments ago, eBay posted a notice on the press page of its subsidiary payments company PayPal, saying that "later today" it will ask "all eBay users to change their passwords due to a cyber attack that compromised an eBay database containing encrypted eBay passwords and other non-financial information."
"Later today" isn't good enough. It's a smart move to reset your eBay password right away, like this wary writer just did.
eBay also suggests that its users "who used the same password on other sites" change those as well. But you know better than to use the same password for multiple websites by now, though, right?
Related: 3 Biometrics Security Startups Heating Up the Password Security Race
Here's more from eBay's official statement regarding the security breach:
Extensive forensic research has shown no evidence of unauthorized access or compromise to personal or financial information for PayPal customers. PayPal customer and financial data is encrypted and stored separately, and PayPal never shares financial information with merchants, including eBay.
As for releasing more information about the cyber attack, eBay said that it would "notify its user base directly within the next 24 hours with more details." We're guessing this means that if your account was impacted by the hack, you'll probably receive an email from eBay.
Related: Online Debit, Credit Fraud Will Soon Get Much Worse. Here's Why.
As first reported by Engadget, eBay posted a strange notice earlier this morning on its official eBay community homepage and in the PayPal Press Center. The messages, which didn't detail why users should change their passwords, later mysteriously disappeared from both sites without explanation.
The peculiar messages' matching headline -- "eBay Inc. To Ask All eBay Users to Change Password" -- raised suspicions that perhaps eBay had fallen victim to a security breach. Within minutes, the alarming headline garnered a rash of headlines of its own. Now, thanks to eBay breaking its silence, presumably after being inundated with press requests for clarification, we know for sure that, unfortunately, it wasn't all just big mistake.
To stay on top of the latest details on the breach direct from eBay, the company suggests you check out its official eBay Inc blog and the PayPal Forward community blog "later today."
Related: Swallow This Password Pill to Unlock Your Digital Devices
