eBay urges users to change their passwords

eBay urges users to change their passwords

The World's largest Online Marketplace eBay has urged users to change their passwords after a cyberattack compromised client identity information. The company, however, 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".

Password Tips

Security expert Alan Woodward offers this advice:

•   Don't choose one obviously associated with you: Hackers can find out a lot about you from social media so if they are targeting you specifically and you choose, say, your pet's name you're in trouble.

•  Choose words that don't appear in a dictionary: Hackers can precalculate the encrypted forms of whole dictionaries and easily reverse engineer your password.

•   Use a mixture of unusual characters: You can use a word or phrase that you can easily remember but where characters are substituted, eg, Myd0gha2B1g3ars!

• Have different passwords for different sites and systems: If hackers compromise one system you do not want them having the key to unlock all your other accounts.

•  Keep them safely: With multiple passwords it is tempting to write them down and carry them around with you. Better to use some form of secure password vault on your phone.