Adobe Announces Customer Data Breach

By Sid Kirchheimer, October 4, 2013 11:32 AM

Software manufacturer Adobe says that hackers infiltrated its computer system, gaining access to sensitive information on nearly 3 million customers - including names, encrypted credit and debit card numbers and details of past orders.

"At this time, we do not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers from our systems," Adobe said in a statement.

Hackers also illegally took copies of the source code of some of the company's widely used products, which, according to online security expert Brian Krebs, includes its ColdFusion Web application platform, and possibly its Acrobat family of products. (That's the software that opens those ubiquitous PDF files. The free reader version, which most folks use, doesn't require a credit card.)

ColdFusion is used by some 10,000 companies worldwide, including 75 firms in the Fortune 500 and the U.S. Senate, according to The New York Times.

As a precaution, the company says it notified customers, banks and credit-card companies about the breach, and have reset customer passwords.

"If your user ID and password were involved, you will receive an email notification from us with information on how to change your password. We also recommend that you change your passwords on any website where you may have used the same user ID and password," the company alert says.

Customers whose data was stolen should expect an immediate email, as well as a notification letter with suggested steps to further help protect against potential misuse of personal information about you - as well as one year of complimentary credit-monitoring membership.

Photo: Twentyfour Students/Flickr

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