The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
64°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

BBB Tip of the Week: Hacking of Acrobat products

Adobe announced Oct. 3 that hackers had breached its security and accessed source code for at least one of its software titles and possibly its Acrobat family of products and user data.

If hackers do have the source code to Acrobat, security experts are suggesting future threats may surface to those using PDF files, which are those created and supported by Adobe’s Acrobat product. The experts say it is very likely that hackers are working on novel ways to attack or corrupt these file types. Only time will tell if their attempts will succeed.

In the announcement about the breach, Adobe stated: “Our investigation currently indicates that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on our systems. We also believe the attackers removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers, including customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders. At this time, we do not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers from our systems.”

What to do if you have an Adobe account or have ever purchased Adobe products or services:

• Reset your Adobe account password at www.adobe.com/ go/passwordreset.

• Reset all passwords to any accounts. And change any accounts that use the same ID and login as your Adobe account.

• Change your security questions for your Adobe account and other accounts. • Check credit card statements used to purchase Adobe products and services.

• Beware of phishing emails targeting you with information stolen from your Adobe account, such as your name, address and email.

• Never click on links in unexpected or unsolicited emails.

• Keep your antivirus program up-to-date and scan your computing and mobile devices regularly.

For more tips you can trust, visit the BBB at www.bbb.org or call (509) 455-4200. For more information on preventing identity theft, visit www.usa.gov/topics/money /identity-theft/prevention.shtml.

Erin T. Dodge, BBB editor