Anti-Hacking Tools’ Maker Gets Hacked
We can certainly say that hackers are the plague of today's Internet. I’m not necessarily talking about "old-school" hackers who do something just to see if they can, and then warn their targets about the found vulnerabilities, but about those who carry out such actions in order to obtain certain advantages (usually, material) from their actions.
These evil tech-geniuses have gotten so good lately, that they are even able to hack into the heart of the enemy, namely companies developing various security tools, without being immediately discovered.
And, according to CNET News, that’s exactly what happened at Guidance Software, one of the leading sellers of software used to investigate computer crimes, sent out letters last week to inform its customers of the fact that a hacker broke in and accessed records, including credit card data.
Even if this breach occurred in November, but wasn't discovered until Dec. 7, said John Colbert, chief executive officer of Guidance. The attack left for grabs the data regarding some thousands of the company's customers, including 3,800 whose names, addresses and credit card details.
Guidance's EnCase software is used by security researchers and law enforcement agencies worldwide. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company notified all its approximately 9,500 customers about the attack and has called in the U.S. Secret Service, which has started an investigation, Colbert said.
It seems that the hacker behind this attack has already started to use the stolen information, since New York City-based Kessler International, who received notice from Guidance on Monday, did so three days after it got an American Express bill for about $20,000, mostly in unauthorized charges for advertising at Google, said Michael Kessler, president of the computer-forensics investigative firm.
Well, considering the fact that this is the last in a series of spectacular security breaches that occurred this year, I think that companies, especially those who store very sensitive customer information, should really be a lot more careful with their security systems. Otherwise, the customer’s level of trust in their services will plummet, and so will their profits.
Orignally posted at: http://www.playfuls.com/itnews_456.html
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this news is ironic.. a security company that can't even protect themselves.. so, would you trust your data with them?
These evil tech-geniuses have gotten so good lately, that they are even able to hack into the heart of the enemy, namely companies developing various security tools, without being immediately discovered.
And, according to CNET News, that’s exactly what happened at Guidance Software, one of the leading sellers of software used to investigate computer crimes, sent out letters last week to inform its customers of the fact that a hacker broke in and accessed records, including credit card data.
Even if this breach occurred in November, but wasn't discovered until Dec. 7, said John Colbert, chief executive officer of Guidance. The attack left for grabs the data regarding some thousands of the company's customers, including 3,800 whose names, addresses and credit card details.
Guidance's EnCase software is used by security researchers and law enforcement agencies worldwide. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company notified all its approximately 9,500 customers about the attack and has called in the U.S. Secret Service, which has started an investigation, Colbert said.
It seems that the hacker behind this attack has already started to use the stolen information, since New York City-based Kessler International, who received notice from Guidance on Monday, did so three days after it got an American Express bill for about $20,000, mostly in unauthorized charges for advertising at Google, said Michael Kessler, president of the computer-forensics investigative firm.
Well, considering the fact that this is the last in a series of spectacular security breaches that occurred this year, I think that companies, especially those who store very sensitive customer information, should really be a lot more careful with their security systems. Otherwise, the customer’s level of trust in their services will plummet, and so will their profits.
Orignally posted at: http://www.playfuls.com/itnews_456.html
=========================
this news is ironic.. a security company that can't even protect themselves.. so, would you trust your data with them?
