Dubizzle, the popular Middle Eastern online classifieds for bargain hunters, sellers and job seekers has had its UAE servers compromised – albeit on a small scale.
Dubizzle, an OLX company and one of the Middle East’s most prominent and active online classified website had its UAE-based servers breached few days ago. The company operates in 14 countries and 22 cities across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).
The registered users were alerted through an urgent email instructing them to change their Dubbizle password.
It also asked users to change their password for other site(s) if the password(s) are the same as the one used for Dubizzle because the same password should never be used across multiple sites or accounts.
We got in touch with Dubizzle’s General Manager, Barry Judge and according to him,
“The dubizzle team has recently uncovered a security breach within dubizzle UAE, which may have affected a small percentage of our database.”
Those visiting the site can also see a security notice about suspicious activity on the website.
“Our technical team has recently uncovered a security breach within dubizzle UAE, which may have affected a small percentage of our database.“
Berry also explained that the company does not store any financial information or plain-text passwords, hence registered users need not worry.
“The database does not contain financial information or plain-text passwords – our users’ financial details are secure. dubizzle does not store credit card details or have access to this data. Financial data is encrypted and stored separately on a third party secure network.”
As reported previously, cyber crimes in UAE have increased and the recent Dubizzle security breach can be taken as an example.
Lest we forget the defacement of Dubai Police’s official Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest by Anonymous which was considered one of the most high-profile hacks against the country’s law enforcement authority.
If you have any question you can contact Dubizzle directly, the company is replying to inquiries related to the breach.
