A group of hackers took advantage of a flaw in the server of a financial advice company. This is the second time that this company has suffered an attack of this type. This time around, more than 8 million customers are affected.
Earlier this year, the financial institute Zacks Investment Research informed 800,000 customers that their personal data had been stolen by hackers. An already substantial loot which was in fact only the tip of the iceberg. The company has just discovered that its servers had been targeted by a much larger attack, in May 2020. This had allowed cybercriminals to seize the private information of all customers; no less than 9 million accounts.
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Once in possession of the files containing the “names, usernames, email and physical addresses, telephone numbers and 256-bit encrypted passwords” of the victims, the hackers decided to take advantage of them. The personal data of the consulting firm’s clients are now resold on Exposed, a hacker forum. The Have I Been Pwned site was one of the first to discover this mass of personal data for sale on the Dark Web. And for good reason, HIBP is a service that takes care of ” check if your email or phone has been compromised in a data theft.
9 million user accounts are for sale on the Dark Web
To check if your data has leaked on the web, all you need to do is fill in your email address or phone number on Have I Been Pwned. This site will allow you to find out if your personal information has fallen into the wrong handsand if necessary, to take the necessary measures.
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In general, all Internet users are advised to regularly replace the passwords of all online accounts using a unique combination, and to monitor your bank accounts.