The company eBay had announced that its database has been
hacked between late February and early March, allowing cyber attackers access
to names, email addresses, encrypted passwords, home addresses, phone numbers
and dates of birth. The 148 million user’s accounts that have been hacked were advised
to change password of any other accounts with the same password. However, credit
card or PayPal details were not contained in the database that was stolen but
is stored separately, which is the only good thing.
The company said that to hack into the eBay’s database, the
cyber attackers managed to enter eBay’s employee log-in credentials and then into
eBay's corporate network to access the database. It wasn't until 3 MONTHS later
eBay discovered that their employee credentials had been stolen, that then lead
to investigation on computers and as a result the company found out they’ve
been... hacked. It took them that long to realize this and what if user’s bank details
were stolen? And peoples other accounts were hacked as well. This could’ve been
much worst and can still get worst as the cyber attackers are still unknown.
The only thing eBay could do was to ask eBay users to change
their password for their eBay account and any other accounts with the same
password. What have we learned from the incident and many others within these years
is that no network or company is really safe from hackers. Even with the best
security, it really is up to you to change your passwords every once a while or
even have these online accounts.
In the future, what else can we really do to keep our private
information safe? In this generation people prefer online account for
everything, including test results from doctors, banking and even groceries
shopping. Maybe in the future we’ll develop
fingerprint access to needed accounts for proof of your identity but still
someone could just chop off your finger…
