This Week in Breach: China - Boomoji
Boomoji: A Chinese company that makes personalized animated avatar to be sent over text and other various apps.Risk to Small Business: Severe: Exposed databases can be very embarrassing for a company because there is no excuse for leaving the database where customer information is stored unsecured. Customers are unlikely to return to the service, and if they do could be hesitant to enter in credit card information or reveal more of their data because they figure it could be at risk as well.Individual Risk: Severe: Those affected by this breach are at an increased risk of phishing attacks. This is made a severe risk in this case because the exposed information included the contact books of the users who gave the app permission to access it.Customers Impacted:Over 5 million users.How it Could Affect You:Not only is the exposed database embarrassing for the organization, but the company lied about the extent of the breach by stating the databases were for testing purposes only. Not being upfront about the breach can result in a further loss of trust in the company by the customer.Read more
In Other News:Alarming NewsA hacker warned an unsuspecting homeowner of his ability to hack the man’s home security system by speaking to him through it. In a circumstance that could only be described as ‘alarming’, a hacker who claimed to be with anonymous told the Arizona man, through the Nest security system he had installed, that he had been hacked. The hacker then listed passwords the man had on other sites. If you have a Nest security system, you may want to consider contacting the manufacturer about this incident.Read more