The Week in Breach: 10/13/18 – 10/19/18
Breach news to share with your customers!
This week Tumblr was breached and we explore Dark Web job postings.
Dark Web ID Trends:
- Total Compromises: 3,767
- Top Source Hits: ID Theft Forum (1,429)
- Top PIIs compromised: Domains (3,761)
- Clear Text Passwords (876)
- Top Company Size: 11-50
- Top Industry: Business & Professional Services and Finance & Insurance
Israel – Magen David Adom
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/medical-info-leaked-after-hackers-breach-israeli-emergency-responders-website-1.6566577
Exploit: Exposed database.
Magen David Adom: The state of Israel’s aid and disaster relief organization.
Risk to Small Business: 1.444 = Extreme: A large breach of medical and payment information is highly damaging to business and could take a significant amount of time to regain the trust of its clients.
Individual Risk: 2.285 = Severe: Those affected by this breach will be at a high risk of identity theft.
Customers Impacted: Not disclosed.
How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: The negative impact of a breach of this nature could influence relationships with customers and other businesses for years to come.
ID Agent to the Rescue: Spotlight ID by ID Agent offers comprehensive identity monitoring that is vital for those affected by a breach such as this. Learn more: https://www.idagent.com/identity-monitoring-programs
Risk Levels:
1 – Extreme Risk
2 – Severe Risk
3 – Moderate Risk
*The risk score is calculated using a formula that considers a wide range of factors related to the assessed breach.
United States – Disqus
https://thehackernews.com/2017/10/disqus-comment-system-hacked.html
Exploit: Exposed Database
Disqus: A network community platform that allows users to blog or comment on other company’s websites. It can be installed as a plug-in or drop-in code. Disqus collects user data on the back end and allows companies to use this information for customer analytics, etc…
Risk to Small Business: 2.4444 = Severe: Although roughly 1/3 of the 17.5 million records compromised involved passwords, they happened to be salted/hashed. The company also discovered and announced the breach in a quick manner and notified the affected customers.
Individual Risk: 2.4286 = Severe: Those affected by this breach will be at a high risk of identity theft.
Customers Impacted: 5.8 million
How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: The breach involved a large number of customers; however, the database was from 2012 and most credentials could have already been changed. While this is damaging to Disqus’ reputation, they followed protocol and demonstrated how to do breach disclosure the proper way.
ID Agent to the Rescue: Spotlight ID by ID Agent offers comprehensive identity monitoring that is vital for those affected by a breach such as this. Learn more: https://www.idagent.com/identity-monitoring-programs
United States – Tumblr
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tumblr-fixes-security-bug-that-leaked-private-account-info/
Exploit: Bug.
Tumblr: A popular blogging website.
Risk to Small Business: 2 = Severe: While Tumblr deserves some credit for 1. Having a bug bounty program that resulted in catching this bug, and 2. Fixing the bug in less than 12 hours after it was discovered, many customers will not appreciate their personal information being leaked and will react accordingly. Tumblr’s timely response, disclosure of the breach, and its bug bounty program will likely reduce the impact on the business significantly.
Individual Risk: 2.714 = Moderate: Email addresses were leaked so those affected by the breach are at a higher risk of spam.
Customers Impacted: All of the ‘recommend blogs’ shown on Tumblr.
How it Could Affect Your Customers’ Business: A breach that exposes user information is always going to have a negative effect on business, but every organization should take a page out of Tumblr’s book here regarding their response to the event and how they discovered it. Customers lose trust in businesses that mishandle their information, but they also respect when a company is making a serious effort to locate vulnerabilities and can handle a problem when it arises with swift action.
ID Agent to the Rescue: Spotlight ID by ID Agent offers comprehensive identity monitoring that can help minimize the fallout from a breach such as this. Learn more: https://www.idagent.com/identity-monitoring-program
Risk Levels:
1 – Extreme Risk
2 – Severe Risk
3 – Moderate Risk
*The risk score is calculated using a formula that considers a wide range of factors related to the assessed breach.
In other news:
When the Dating App Stands You Up
A dating app called Donald Daters was discovered to be exposing all user information on the open internet… including personal messages. The app’s goal is to help single Donald Trump supporters connect with one another, but instead exposed all that used it. The hacker that accessed the database was able to “collect profile data, including names, photos, personal messages, and the digital access tokens to log into their accounts.” The hacker also can delete the app’s data. Watch out where you put your personal information, people!
https://in.pcmag.com/news/126298/trump-themed-dating-app-found-leaking-users-private-chats
Podcasts:
Know Tech Talks – Hosted by Barb Paluszkiewicz
The Continuum Podcast
Security Now – Hosted by Steve Gibson, Leo Laporte
Defensive Security Podcast – Hosted by Jerry Bell (@maliciouslink) and Andrew Kalat (@lerg)
Small Business, Big Marketing – Australia’s #1 Marketing Show!
A note for your customers:
The Dark Web Monster
When looking for a job, usually you would check one of the many job hunting sites you see in commercials or circle ads in newspapers (at least at one point you did). Some people do something very similar… but on the Dark Web searching for an illicit job. Many job postings on the Dark Web seem like normal job ads. But when you look closer you will notice that advert for a driver not only needs the person to drive but also transport drugs. The driver would make $1,000 for a week of work, not including the living expense compensation. One of the more lucrative opportunities on the Dark Web job market is the corporate insider. The most common target is financial employees who, in one example, are offered $3,150 to get a loan or increase cash withdrawal limits on a card. Postal workers are also targeted to steal packages.
The Dark Web is lucrative for those willing to risk their job and possibly their freedom for money. Be careful of both insiders and the wide array of illicit software sold there.
https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/inside-the-dark-webs-help-wanted-ads/d/d-id/1333066
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