Hacks & Attacks: Panic at the T-Mobile Store!

The latest hacking scandal has effected yet another well-known service provider many Americans use every day for their mobile device, T-Mobile Wireless. Experian, a credit reporting agency, made a statement in reguards to a data breach at one of their business units which may have placed roughly 15 million people at risk of having their identity stolen.

What information was confiscated?

The vital information pertaining to the identity of 15 million people included social security numbers, names, home addresses, dates of birth, passport ID’s, and driver’s license numbers. Fortunately, banking information and credit card numbers were not any of the stolen items.

How in the world did this happen?!

A highly skilled hacker was able to infiltrate an Experian Server which held the vital information of customers who had applied for T-Mobile’s service between September 1, 2013 and September 16, 2015. The hacking incident was discovered on September 15, 2015.

Damage Control

Experian is actively working with law enforcement to discover who is behind this malicious attack. In an effort to relieve the anxiety of the 15 million victims, Experian released a statement referring to the data that was hacked. Experian said the data had been encrypted. But they added that it may have been compromised. At this moment, it is up in the air as to if these 15 million people will face a painful whiplash from this attack.

Prevention

Data breaches can be prevented. If the server was installed with a prover Extended Validated (EV) SSL Certificate, the identities of the victims would have remained secure. Preforming an Internal Vulnerability Scan (IVS) can also protect systems from being hacked. Internal Vulnerability Scanning (IVS) works by identifying real and potential vulnerabilities within internal networks. Investing in your web environment can help keep you and your customers safe. Invest now! Don’t be a victim!

Source

Hackett, Robert. "Experian Data Breach Affects More Than 15 Million Consumers, T-Mobile Customers." Fortune TMobile Tag. Fortune, 1 Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Oct. 2015.