4th October 2013
Software giant Adobe is the latest global business to be hacked, the company has revealed today. This again highlights the need to use different passwords for different online accounts.
It has confirmed that a "sophisticated" cyber attack has been perpetrated on its website, resulting in the theft of the private information of 2.9 million customers, and access to source code for a number of its products including Acrobat and ColdFusion. Encrypted customer passwords and payment card numbers were taken, but not decrypted debit or credit card data, the company says.
Adobe's Chief Security Officer Brad Arkin said: "We deeply regret that this incident occurred. Based on our findings to date, we are not aware of any specific increased risk to customers as a result of this incident."
The company is resetting passwords for the customer accounts it believes were accessed, and will email those customers alerting them to the change. It also says that affected customers should change their passwords and user information for other websites and online services for which the same login is used.
It is also offering a free 12-month subscription to a credit-monitoring programme to customers whose payment card information is thought to have been compromised.
However, the attack could have another, possibly more sinister consequence, according to internet security company Sophos. A spokesperson told the BBC: "Access to the source code could be very serious. Billions of computers around the world use Adobe software, so if hackers manage to embed malicious code in official-looking software updates they could potentially take control of millions of machines."
He added: "This is on the same level as a Microsoft security breach."
