The data was dumped by a malicious hacker or group of hackers called ShinyHunters — notorious for stealing and then publicizing user data from online services. This past Friday, ShinyHunters dumped data belonging to at least 7 million customers of U.S. menswear retailer Bonobos. In May 2019, insurance firm First American Financial suffered an attack that saw more than885 millionsensitive documents exposed. A data breach can lead to organizations not only losing their data, which could be sensitive financial information or corporate secrets, but they can also suffer fines, financial loss, and reputational damage, which are often irreparable. The creators of online dating sites and apps have at times struggled with the perception that these sites could facilitate troubling – or even dangerous – encounters. And although there is some evidence that much of the stigma surrounding these sites has diminished over time, close to half of Americans still find the prospect of meeting someone through a dating site unsafe.
Biggest Data Breaches, Hacks, and Exposures [2023 Update]
The calls spanned almost two years, with the earliest record from December 2011 and the latest record from spring 2014. This leak potentially violated constitutional attorney-client protections since these records included links to recordings. S. SEC. These records contained employees’ personal information, customers’ sensitive information, Syniverse’s trade secrets and other intellectual property, and other important financial information.
On 24 August 2015, Toronto police announced that two unconfirmed suicides had been linked to the data breach, in addition to “reports of hate crimes connected to the hack.” Unconfirmed reports say a man in the U.S. died by suicide. At least one suicide, which was previously linked to Ashley Madison, has since been reported as being due to “stress entirely related to issues at work that had no connection to the data leak”. Among the affected services was Coffee Meets Bagel, from which the dealer claimed to have obtained 6 million user records. “We recently discovered that some data from your Coffee Meets Bagel account may have been acquired by an unauthorized party,” reads an email the dating app sent to users on Thursday. Researchers exploring OkCupid for security holes have found a way for hackers to pillage the sensitive data of users.
“Almost none of the actions an admin or a user can take require any kind of authentication whatsoever,” GeopJr told the Daily Dot. In the meantime, the forum thread where the MeetMindful data was leaked has been viewed more than 1,500 times and most likely downloaded, in many cases. If someone does track you down on social media, block them so that they can’t message you. Here are five of the biggest privacy disasters and risks these apps can expose us to. Dating apps have revolutionized the way people meet in the modern world—making it easier than ever to find romantic partners who share your hobbies, interests, and goals. Manhunt, which claims to have six million members, has confirmed it was hit by a data breach in February, in a notice filed with the Washington attorney general’s office.
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They stole credit card details, passport information, and other personal information dating back to 2014. Experian subsidiary Court Ventures fell victim in 2013 when a Vietnamese man tricked it into giving him access to a database containing 200 million personal records by posing as a private investigator from Singapore. The details of Hieu Minh Ngo’s exploits only came to light following his arrest for selling personal information of US residents to cybercriminals across the world, something he had been doing since 2007. In March 2014, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges including identity fraud in the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire. The DoJ stated at the time that Ngo had made a total of $2 million from selling personal data.
MySpace – 427,000,000 records lost
Avid Life Media defiantly ignored the warnings and kept both sites online after the breach, promising customers that it had increased the security of its networks. The leak of this highly sensitive data represents a looming issue for the site’s users and the main reason why MeetMindful needs to notify account holders. Messages exchanged by users were not included in the leaked file; however, this does not make the entire incident less sensitive. The leaked data, a 1.2 GB file, appears to be a dump of the site’s users database. Some of the privacy risks you face while online dating are features that are built into the app itself.
This includes reporting their profile to the dating app or site so that they can’t harass you or other users. Like with cyberstalking, harassers may track down your other social media profiles. They may also share screenshots of your dating profile or conversations OasisDating in an attempt to shame or embarrass you. Beware of these common online dating app privacy risks and learn how to protect yourself from privacy violations. The notice also fails to mention whether the leaked passwords were encrypted or not.
If a white-label platform isn’t offering multi-factor authentication and a guarantee of immediate data deletion, openly, this is a security red flag for the increasingly savvy singletons and those developing the niche applications out there. No user wants to feel compromised by having their personal information revealed to the world, especially through such a personal experience as a dating site. The ShinyHunters hacking group has stolen and published the personally identifiable data of MeetMindful users, according to a report from ZDNet. The data has been made available as a free download on a “publicly accessible hacking forum known for its trade in hacked databases,” according to a security researcher speaking anonymously to the outlet.
Additionally, we will discuss best practices for data security and the prevention of data breaches. A data breach is a security incident in which unauthorized individual’s access or steal sensitive, confidential, or protected data. Data breaches can have serious consequences, including financial losses, company reputation damage, and identity theft. As we’ve mentioned, dating apps have more sensitive personal data than the average social media app.
It also, again hopefully, is a reminder to take one’s own security seriously and to expect more from all service providers, including social platforms. Legal experts note that in the AdultFriendFinder and Ashley Madison cases, users are loath to seek remedy because it begins with a discussion around private topics. This is an even greater cause to consider security before the need for it is demonstrated, not after.
Tom says he found a way to trick the LinkedIn API software into giving him the huge tranche of records without setting off alarms. But most people accept that whatever we put on our public profile page is out in the public domain. As a typical millennial constantly glued to my phone, my virtual life has fully merged with my real life. It is a reality that is constantly being shaped by others – but good luck trying to find out how.