What you need to know about the Adobe data breach

(Adobe)

Software giant Adobe announced last week that it had been the victim of a cyber attack. The thieves got away with information, including customer IDs and passwords, from 2.9 million accounts. In an e-mail sent to customers, Adobe said that it had reset their passwords, adding that they should change their passwords immediately. Adobe also advised customers to change passwords on any sites where they might have used the same username and password.

The thieves also grabbed credit- and debit-card information, according to Adobe, which added that the financial data was encrypted. (Let's hope that the encryption foils the hackers.)

Stay safe online with the help of our guide to Internet security.

If you are an Adobe customer with an online account and haven't received an e-mail notification, it's still a smart move to change your password (read "Hackproof your passwords" for tips). In fact, you should change all your passwords regularly. And we strongly advise never to use the same usernames and passwords on multiple website accounts.

In its e-mail to customers, Adobe included a password-reset link. Be careful about clicking on such link in any e-mail, even if it appears to be from a trusted source. Hover your cursor over the link to see the full URL—if it looks suspicious, don't click on it. To be safe, type the URL into your browser instead of clicking on it. The URL you see might not be the actual page where you end up.