Evernote hacked: Users encouraged to reset passwords immediately

BBC reports California-based company Evernote has been hacked. Evernote is now encouraging all their users to reset their passwords following the breach. The online information storage company describes the hack as coordinated "suspicious activity" attempting to access the company's secure areas.

The firm reports that there is no evidence to suggest that payment information or information you've stored in Evernote was accessed, changed or lost. Information accessed by the hackers includes usernames, e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords. Evernote passwords are protected by one-way encryption (hashed and salted), but the service is still requiring all users to reset their account passwords just in case.

It is not yet clear how the hackers breached the system, or how long the hackers had access to users' account information. In an e-mail to Techcrunch, however, an Evernote spokesperson says the company first began seeing suspicious activity on Feb. 28.

The company has about 50 million users who use Evernote as an online organizer for web pages, notes, images, videos and more. These attacks are becoming more common, with attacks on Apple, Facebook and Twitter occurring during the past month.

During the next several hours, Evernote apps are expected to be updated to make the password changing process easier for those who use the service primarily through apps. They offer some advice to protect your information on their site and any others. This includes avoiding simple passwords like those found in the dictionary, using different passwords for each site, and never clicking password reset requests in your e-mails.

Servers are expected to be oversaturated for the next several hours as users log on to reset their passwords, so expect some site glitches.

Do you use Evernote for your online storage needs? Will attacks like these discourage you from using Evernote and other cloud storage services? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.