Security company ADT announces security breach of customer data

[David H. Lipman]

Security company ADT announces security breach of customer data

Posted: August 9, 2024 by Pieter Arntz

 

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Electronic surveillance equipment provider ADT filed a form 8-K with the Security and Exchange Commision (SEC) to report “a cybersecurity incident during which unauthorized actors illegally accessed certain databases containing ADT customer order information.”

An 8-K is a report of unscheduled material events or corporate changes at a company that could be of importance to the shareholders or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

ADT filed the 8-K on August 7, adding that the incident happened “recently,” but refraining from providing an exact date. The company also did not provide an exact number of victims—only that the victims were personally notified about the breach.

Away from ADT’s official disclosures, on July 31, a cybercriminal with the handle “netnsher” announced the leak of a database purportedly belonging to ADT. According to the cybercriminal’s post:

Post announcing a leaked database

“The infamous security company ADT with $5B revenue suffered a databreach exposing over 30,812 records including 30,400 unique emails, the records contain: CustomerEmail, Full address, User ID, Products bought, etc….”

According to ADT, the stolen data included:

• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Home addresses

The company also added that:

“Based on its investigation to date, the Company has no reason to believe that customers’ home security systems were compromised during this incident.”

The leak announcement by netnsher promises 30,812 records including 30,400 unique email addresses and “Products bought.”

Although ADT does not believe the attackers stole customers’ credit card data or banking information, that last addition might make the database valuable for burglars. But phishing operations might also use the information to their advantage.

 

[NewTricks]

4 hours ago, David H. Lipman said:

ADT filed the 8-K on August 7, adding that the incident happened “recently,”

Netnsher's post on July 31 is only 3 days before ADT's filing date with the SEC.  Not a bad time frame considering that many companies either don't discover for months, or if they do, fail to report for months. (No, I don't have ADT)

It's curious that netnsher uses a yellow crown next to their name and the word "GOD" underneath their Marvel-like red avatar.

[David H. Lipman]

ADT Insider threat - Not dated

https://www.adt.com/adt-privacy-notice/what-happened

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An ADT internal investigation revealed improper behavior by a Dallas, Texas-area ADT service employee. Our investigation revealed that during a service visit, one of our Dallas-area technicians had added his personal email address to this customer’s account to gain unauthorized access, and he had done the same thing during service visits with other customers in the Dallas area.  

https://www.adt.com/resources/capital-one-data-breach

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If you’ve watched the news or checked your news alerts recently, you’ve probably heard about the Capital One data breach, where a hacker gained access to more than 100M Capital One customer accounts and credit card applications. In what’s been named as one of the biggest data breaches ever, everything from Social Security information to bank account numbers, credit scores, as well as names and addresses, were compromised. Hopefully you weren’t affected, but either way, this is a reminder that there are things you should know to help minimize the risk of your highly sensitive personal information being stolen.

Hacks are a reality

The idea that your highly-sensitive personal information could be hacked and distributed on the internet is terrifying, but it’s not at all uncommon. In fact, studies show that identity theft occurs every two seconds. We’re here to tell you that while you can’t control whether or not a breach will happen, you can prepare and help safeguard to minimize the damage and headache.

It can happen to anyone

Personal information stored in various places is vulnerable to theft, including cell phones and computers to WiFi networks, credit cards, and even your wallet. Big or small, breaches like this can be financially disastrous for individuals and businesses. Once personal information is exposed, cybercriminals can use the details to take money out of your bank account, or even commit or report a crime in your name. Identity theft comes at a huge price, costing consumers nearly $17 billion, and the average identity theft victim spends countless hours (over 104!) resolving fraud.

I guess ADT didn't learn from the Capital One event and it subsequently happened to ADT.