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Identity Theft Labs

Data Breaches

Ok, we don’t write about data breaches too much anymore…. quite frankly, we couldn’t keep up if we wanted to….. not when there are a couple hundred each year. Occasionally we talk about a large one or one that received media attention here. For a chronology of data breaches please see DataLossDB.

Please see our identity theft protection reviews to learn about the companies that can help protect you from identity theft even if your information was exposed in a data breach.

North Korea Officially Blamed by FBI for Sony Breach

The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that they have enough evidence to accuse North Korea’s government of being responsible for the hack and data breach of Sony Pictures. The FBI revealed that technical analysis of wiper malware deployed in the cyberattack is closely related to other malware known to be created by North Koreans. For more details on this story, click here:: FBI Officially Blames North Korea in Sony Hacks

“Charge Anywhere” Left Data Exposed FOR FIVE YEARS!

Mobile payments provider Charge Anywhere LLC revealed that malware had jeopardized its credit card data since November of 2009. While the company believes that only files with segments of network traffic from August 17, 2014 through September 24, 2014 were identified, the system still had the ability to be hacked for the past five years. For a full story on this topic, click here:: Unencrypted Data Lets Thieves ‘Charge Anywhere’

Sony Wants Me to Stop Talking About Their Leak

After the group known as Guardians of Peace hacked, attacked, and revealed a series of Sony emails, scripts, salary data, and films out into the ether. In a damage control move, Sony’s legal team has contacted a variety of journalists and publications requesting they cease reporting about their private information. For a full story on this, click here:: Sony Pictures cautions press over hacking leaks

Bebe Stores Breached

The women’s clothing chain bebe stores inc. confirmed that hackers had stolen customer card data last month. The breach lasted for several weeks and compromised payment cards throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. For more on this data breach, please click here:: Bebe Stores Confirms Credit Card Breach

The Trending Cybercrime Goes Beyond Theft

With the breaches of big businesses and banks such as Home Depot or Bank of America, companies are doing whatever they can to protect themselves from identity thieves. IT teams and cybersecurity partners are preventing certain malware from extracting information to another party. However, what if the other party isn’t trying to extract the info, but wants to erase it.

The FBI recently sent a flash warning to a number of businesses to stay alert of certain malware that wipes out data entirely. While the FBI didn’t confirm it, this news comes off the heels of Sony’s recent attack that was possibly orchestrated by North Korean hacktivists. Since many companies are just now protecting themselves from malware that merely steals from them, the focus much be shifted to protecting the data from being utterly destroyed as well. For more on this troubling trend, click here:: FBI Warning Shows Targeted Attacks Don’t Just Steal Anymore
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