Evernote hit in hacking attack, users must reset their passwords

IDG News Service - Evernote, which makes business and consumer productivity software for things like taking notes and doing research, is forcing all of its 50 million users to change their passwords after detecting a hacker intrusion on its sytem.

The attacker gained access to Evernote accounts' usernames, email addresses and passwords. Although passwords are encrypted, the company "in an abundance of caution" is implementing a password reset, the company said in a blog post on Saturday.

There is no evidence that the malicious hackers accessed user content nor that they got a hold of customers' payment information, according to the company.

The network "suspicious activity" that Evernote detected and blocked was an apparent "coordinated attempt" to break into secure areas of its service, Evernote said in the post.

"After signing in, you will be prompted to enter your new password. Once you have reset your password on evernote.com, you will need to enter this new password in other Evernote apps that you use. We are also releasing updates to several of our apps to make the password change process easier, so please check for updates over the next several hours," reads Evernote's blog post.

Evernote is the latest victim in a recent string of hacking incidents against high-profile technology companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook.

Evernote makes free and fee-based applications that can be accessed via web browsers, mobile devices and desktop computers.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.