eBay
IN PHOTO: eBay's Massive Security Breach Wikimedia Commons

On Wednesday, eBay Inc., the California based online retailer requested its users to change their passwords. Cyber attack was quoted as the reason behind this mass request. Apparently, this attack compromised the company's database.

Nevertheless, there was some confusion in the way the company addressed the issue early on. The initial set of messages posted by the company on the homepage and the press page of PayPal were quite perplexing. Apparently, the body of the message did not hold any relevant text.

Interested readers can check out the screenshot from Engadget.

Subsequently, the company posted a note on its official blog page requesting its 145 million user base to change their passwords.

The statement read, "We will be asking eBay users to change their passwords because of a cyber attack that compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data."

The cyber attack took place during late February and early March. This attack compromised information pertaining to usernames, encrypted passwords, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.

It is worth noting that, no financial information was compromised in this attack, the company quoted. Nevertheless, eBay is taking necessary steps to protect its customer information. In addition, the company is working with law enforcement officials and leading security experts to investigate the attack.

The company also assured that PayPal's database was not affected. The company spokesperson stated that PayPal's data is stored separately from that of eBay on a secured network. Moreover, PayPal financial information is encrypted.

The other related Web sites of the company like StubHub, eBay Classifieds, Tradera, Gmarket, GumTree or GittiGidiyor were not compromised, according to Mashable.

eBay is expected to inform its users through email, site communications and other marketing channels requesting a password change. Moreover, the company was quick to note that eBay users who utilise the same password on any other Web sites should change those passwords as well. As a rule of thumb, same passwords should never be used across various sites or services.

Meanwhile, the company's share fell as much as 3.2 percent on Wednesday, after the cyber attack news started making rounds.

Readers with eBay accounts are encouraged to change the passwords immediately.