WEST PALM BEACH, FL - In a recent announcement Google revealed that it will discontinue the call and chat history features in Google Business Profiles by July 31, 2024. This move appears to be part of a broader effort to streamline Google's services and shift its focus elsewhere. While these changes will affect how businesses interact with their leads, it also presents an opportunity to enhance marketing efforts with proper planning and the right tools. What’s Changing in … [Read more...]
Data Leak Impacts Snowflake Customers, Including Advanced Auto Parts, LendingTree
BOZEMAN, MT - In a significant data breach, several major companies have been impacted due to vulnerabilities in their Snowflake cloud storage accounts. The breach, which came to light in early June 2024, has affected companies like Advanced Auto Parts and LendingTree, among others. Details of the Breach: The breach involved unauthorized access to Snowflake's cloud storage, leading to the theft of vast amounts of data. The hacker, known by the alias "Sp1d3r," has … [Read more...]
Ticketmaster Faces Massive Data Breach, Affecting Millions of Users
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - Ticketmaster, the ticketing giant, is reeling from a major data breach that may have exposed the personal information of over half a billion users. The notorious hacking group ShinyHunters is claiming responsibility for the attack and is demanding a ransom of $500,000 to prevent the data from being sold. While Ticketmaster has yet to confirm the breach officially, security experts are taking the claims seriously. According to reports, the stolen data … [Read more...]
New Service to Assist with WHOIS Lookups Launched by ICANN for Authorized Users
LOS ANGELES, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – the nonprofit organization that oversees the domain industry – has launched a new centralized online service to assist researchers, law enforcement, and others to request personal data from all public domain registration records. This new service comes after ICANN had instructed all registrars in May 2018 to redact personal data – such as a customer’s name, address, phone number … [Read more...]
Massive Data Breach of Neopets Website Affects 69 Million Users
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Neopets, a virtual pet and gaming community, has reported a data breach exposing personal information like usernames, passwords, IP addresses, and more of 69 million user accounts. By combining this information, cybercriminals could target users with spam or phishing attempts to access additional personal information which could lead to identity theft. Neopets representatives have published a statement on Twitter addressing the breach. If … [Read more...]
LifeLock Confirms My Data Was Revealed on “The Dark Web” After 2021 “Epik” Data Leak
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – This morning I received an email notification that information or data which is presumed to be connected to my identity has been found on “The Dark Web” after the domain name and hosting company, Epik.com was hacked last year. The service is part of LifeLock by Norton. The following message arrived: Logging into my account a more detailed explanation explains that my personal information associated with the epik.com leak was located on the Dark … [Read more...]
Privacy Scandal: Has Your Data Been Stolen by These 10 “Known Tracking Domains?”
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - A new study has revealed that consumer email addresses are being collected by online login, registration, and newsletter subscriptions even before the user has manually submitted the form or even given their consent to have their personal information collected, igniting controversy over privacy rights – or lack thereof – on the internet. The goal of the study was to spot sites that pulled email and password information before users could … [Read more...]
PII Of Up To 4.6 Million Neiman Marcus Customers Potentially Exposed In Breach
PALM BEACH, FL - On Thursday, September 30, 2021, luxury department store Neiman Marcus announced that about 4.6 million of its customers may have had their personally identifiable information or PII compromised in a data breach that occurred in May 2020. The personal information stolen in the breach varied and may have included names and contact information, payment card numbers and expiration dates including virtual gift card numbers. Worse, the cyber-thieves may have … [Read more...]
10 Simple Yet Effective Security Tips To Keep You Cyber Safe and Worry Less in 2020
PALM BEACH, FL - There is no shortage of security breaches and data leaks reported in the news this past year. As we all move into 2020, here are some simple tips to help keep you stay cyber safe, so you can worry less and have more to look forward to this year. Don't Shorten 2020 in Dates You shouldn’t shorten the year 2020 when signing things. Scammers can easily change the abbreviated date, for example from “3/30/20” to “3/30/2018”. Make sure to write out the full … [Read more...]
DOJ Seizes Domain Used to Sell Access to Hacked Personal Info and Account Logins
WASHINGTON – Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that they have seized the internet domain name weleakinfo.com. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Timothy M. Dunham of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The website claimed to provide its users a search engine to review and obtain the personal information illegally obtained in over 10,000 … [Read more...]
This AMEX Email Phishing Scam Wants You Homeless & Poor, With A Zero FICO Score
PALM BEACH, FL - Nothing could better destroy your holiday spirit than a compromise of your most secure personal information in the form of a phishing expedition. Here is one of the latest email scams circulating what is probably hundreds of thousands of inboxes, just in time for Christmas. Here is how it all plays out: You receive an email which appears to be from American Express, but it isn't, it's from some scrupulous hacker hiding somewhere behind a computer who is … [Read more...]
U.S. GDPR: The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Goes Into Effect January 2020
PALM BEACH, FL - The US's answer to European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), enacted in 2018, will create new consumer rights relating to the access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses. It also requires California's Attorney General to solicit broad public participation and adopt regulations to further the CCPA's purposes. The proposed regulations will establish … [Read more...]
New “Mind Your Own Business Act” Allows for Fines, Jail Time for Privacy Violations
WASHINGTON - Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has introducedlegislation, called the Mind Your Own Business Act, that would make it more difficult for online platforms to collect and use customer data. The bill is in some ways similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Among other things, the bill would: Give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to establish minimum privacy and cyber-security standards. Allow the FTC to issue … [Read more...]
It’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month; Stay Safe With Simple Online Tips
PALM BEACH, FL –The Attorney General of the State of Florida, Ashley Moody has issued a Consumer Alert in recognition of National Cyber-security Awareness Month. The video details some simple steps consumers can take to help avoid becoming a victim of various security threats and online scams such as those which target Internet users with tech support, malware, phishing and ransomware. Today more than ever, our daily lives are dependent on the internet. While advances … [Read more...]
New Facebook Data Breach Effecting 50 Million Accounts; Doubling Security Staff
NEW YORK, NY - On Friday, September 28, 2018 Facebook said that an attack on its computer network had affected the personal information of nearly 50 million users. The attackers exploited the "View As" feature that allows users to see their Facebook page the way someone else would. This could allow the attackers to take over Facebook accounts. Facebook has fixed this issue and informed law enforcement. They also do not know if the affected accounts were misused or if user … [Read more...]