Dell it detected an unauthorized attempt to extract customer information from Dell.Com earlier this month.
The company said the breach occurred on November 9, but it was able to stop hackers trying to steal its customers' data. The attackers attempted to extract information such as customer names, email addresses and passwords.
Dell also revealed that it initiated a password reset for all customer accounts on its online store, Dell.Com, on November 14 for security reasons.
While the company did not elaborate on the complexity of the password hashing algorithms used for protection, some of them – such as MD5 – can be cracked within seconds to reveal a password in plain text.
Dell said in a press release that the "investigations found no evidence of information extraction."
Apparently, the hackers did not target payment cards or other sensitive customer information. Nor did they cause any service disruptions during or after the breach.
The company says the incident is still under investigation, but the breach was not extensive, as its engineers detected the intrusion the same day. However, the company declined to disclose the number of accounts affected.
Although Dell has attempted to downplay the impact of the incident, customers should note that breached companies generally amend initial disclosures as the investigation continues.
So, Dell.Com users should reset their passwords if they haven't already and manually check the information they have stored in their accounts and monitor their saved cards.
