Adobe Inc., makers of prominent creative software such as Photoshop and InDesign, was the target hacker activity last month that leaked the passwords of millions of its users. But while those attacks only managed to capture information from Adobe's networks, the effects are being felt throughout the Internet community and prompted many to take additional action.

Companies including Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are taking additional measures to ensure that their user bases remain unharmed by the Adobe data breach. Many have requested that user reset their passwords, fearing that the passwords shared between their platforms and Adobe software could lead to a security breach of their systems.

In addition to requesting that customers evaluate their passwords, some companies have taken proactive measure just to be sure. Facebook, for example, is cross-referencing the massive database leaked online that displays usernames and passwords against its own users to ensure that those most at risk are warned.

“We know that there are going to be plenty of cases where those passwords were reused just based on knowledge of user habits across the Web,” said Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow to The Wall Street Journal.

Those Facebook users affected have been sent the following message: “Affected Facebook users received a message that read, “Recently, there was a security incident on another website unrelated to Facebook. Facebook was not directly affected by the incident, but your Facebook account is at risk because you were using the same password in both places.”

While most major corporations encrypt their username and password databases, the information lifted from Adobe was taken off a backup storage system with weak encryption protection. Initial reports warned that some 3 million current and past memberships had been compromised, but that estimate has ballooned to 150 million potentially affected users.

For those concerned about their Adobe accounts, services like LastPass are offering services that confirm whether or not user data has been compromised. You can check your status here.

For more on cybersecurity check out these stories:

Adobe Inc., makers of prominent creative software such as Photoshop and InDesign, was the target hacker activity last month that leaked the passwords of millions of its users. But while those attacks only managed to capture information from Adobe's networks, the effects are being felt throughout the Internet community and prompted many to take additional action.

Companies including Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are taking additional measures to ensure that their user bases remain unharmed by the Adobe data breach. Many have requested that user reset their passwords, fearing that the passwords shared between their platforms and Adobe software could lead to a security breach of their systems.

In addition to requesting that customers evaluate their passwords, some companies have taken proactive measure just to be sure. Facebook, for example, is cross-referencing the massive database leaked online that displays usernames and passwords against its own users to ensure that those most at risk are warned.

“We know that there are going to be plenty of cases where those passwords were reused just based on knowledge of user habits across the Web,” said Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow to The Wall Street Journal.

Those Facebook users affected have been sent the following message: “Affected Facebook users received a message that read, “Recently, there was a security incident on another website unrelated to Facebook. Facebook was not directly affected by the incident, but your Facebook account is at risk because you were using the same password in both places.”

While most major corporations encrypt their username and password databases, the information lifted from Adobe was taken off a backup storage system with weak encryption protection. Initial reports warned that some 3 million current and past memberships had been compromised, but that estimate has ballooned to 150 million potentially affected users.

For those concerned about their Adobe accounts, services like LastPass are offering services that confirm whether or not user data has been compromised. You can check your status here.

For more on cybersecurity check out these stories: