Opera Sync Users, 1.7 Million Of You, Reset Your Passwords Now, You’ve Been Hacked
Data breaches happen all too frequently to companies both big and small. The latest victim is Opera Software, the Scandinavian outfit behind the Opera browser that's especially popular on mobile devices. Opera's security team said it detected signs of a attack on its sync system, and though the hack was quickly blocked, it believes the culprit(s) still made off with some stolen data.
Users who take advantage of Opera's sync feature had their account details compromised in the attack, including their passwords and login names. Though Opera only stores encrypted (for synchronized passwords) or hashed and salted (for authentication) passwords in its system, it took the precautionary step of resetting all sync account passwords.
"We have also sent emails to all Opera sync users to inform them about the incident and ask them to change the password for their Opera sync accounts. In an abundance of caution, we have encouraged users to also reset any passwords to third party sites they may have synchronized with the service," Opera said.
Out of the 350 million people who use the Opera browser, 1.7 million also use Opera sync. Opera downplayed that figure by pointing out it's less than 0.5 percent of its total active number of users. Still, we're not talking about a few hundred for thousand people here.
Opera browsers users who don't use the sync feature are in the clear, they don't need to change their password. Everyone else should head to the password resetting page and input a new one.
Users who take advantage of Opera's sync feature had their account details compromised in the attack, including their passwords and login names. Though Opera only stores encrypted (for synchronized passwords) or hashed and salted (for authentication) passwords in its system, it took the precautionary step of resetting all sync account passwords.
"We have also sent emails to all Opera sync users to inform them about the incident and ask them to change the password for their Opera sync accounts. In an abundance of caution, we have encouraged users to also reset any passwords to third party sites they may have synchronized with the service," Opera said.
Out of the 350 million people who use the Opera browser, 1.7 million also use Opera sync. Opera downplayed that figure by pointing out it's less than 0.5 percent of its total active number of users. Still, we're not talking about a few hundred for thousand people here.
Opera browsers users who don't use the sync feature are in the clear, they don't need to change their password. Everyone else should head to the password resetting page and input a new one.
