The consumer auction website eBay is the latest major corporate entity to announce that it--and its 128 million users--have been victimized by a cyberattack.
Devin Wenig, the President of eBay Marketplaces, emailed notices to users today asking them to change their passwords.
"Recently, our company discovered a cyberattack on our corporate information network. This attack compromised a database containing eBay user passwords," reads the email from Wenig. It also states that there is no evidence that any financial information has been accessed or compromised and all passwords were encrypted. But it says changing passwords is "an extra precautionary step."
According to eBay, the cyberattack happened between late February and early March. The criminals gained access to a database of eBay users that contained customers' names, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth.
Other major corporations that have announced damaging cyberattacks affecting customers include Target and Neiman Marcus.
Founded in 1995, eBay is one of the world's largest online marketplaces, where buyers and sellers can engage in transactions involving most any tangible product. More than 500 million items are listed on eBay.
eBay says that users who have changed their password since May 21 do not need to change it again. It adds that there's no evidence that the attack affected PayPal users or financial information, which is encrypted and stored on a separate secure network. The company says it is applying additional security and "working with law enforcement and leading security experts to aggressively investigate the matter."
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