Recently mobile based web browser company Opera confirmed that the hackers broke into the company's sync servers, potentially exposing users credentials like passwords.
The Norway based company warned customers about the possibility of security breach and glitch in their sync system however the company claimed that it quickly blocked the attack, however some of the information may have got leaked.
"Earlier this week, we detected signs of an attack where access was gained to the Opera sync system. This attack was quickly blocked. Our investigations are ongoing, but we believe some data, including some of our sync users' passwords and account information, such as login names, may have been compromised", the company said adding that user's credentials are encrypted. "our investigations are ongoing, but we believe some data, including some of our sync users' passwords and account information, such as login names, may have been compromised," the company said in a blog post.
Opera has reset all the Opera Sync account passwords as a precaution. "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," adds the blog post. Not only resetting the Opera Sync password is advised by the company, but also resetting any passwords to third-party sites they may have synchronized with the service is also encouraged.
For those unaware, Opera Sync is a service that allows users to sync their Opera web browser settings and data across varied devices. Opera says the total active number of users of Opera sync in the last month was 1.7 million, which is less than 0.5% of the total Opera user base including 350 million users.
The Opera Sync breach warning by the company comes a little after a month since it was bought by a Chinese consortium for $600 million (approximately Rs 4,025 crores). The consortium led by Golden Brick Silk Road acquired the mobile and desktop versions of the internet browser, plus performance and privacy apps and a stake in a Chinese joint venture.
The company recently launched its unlimited VPN app with ad-blocker for Android users as well. The service arrived for iOS in May this year.