American telecommunications company Frontier experienced a serious data security breach that compromised the personal information of a significant number of its customers. The company confirmed that the security incident resulted in the unauthorized disclosure of the names and Social Security numbers of more than 750,000 individuals. Frontier has now notified affected customers and reported the incident to the appropriate regulatory authorities.
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What happened in the Frontier data breach?
Frontier Communications warned 750,000 customers that their information was exposed in a data breach. “On April 14, 2024, we detected unauthorized access to some of our internal IT systems. Upon investigation, your personal information was identified among the data affected by this incident,” the telco said in a notice to affected customers.
that much sample notice A report filed with the Maine Attorney General's Office censored the type of data exposed in the case. However, an investigation found that the names and Social Security numbers of 751,895 customers were compromised. Bleeping Computer Report. Frontier assures that no customer financial information was exposed as a result of this breach.
Frontier believes it contained the data breach and restored normal business operations immediately after the attack. However, the security incident forced the company to partially shut down some systems to prevent threat actors from moving laterally through the network, which also caused some operational outages.
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Who is behind the Frontier data breach?
Frontier did not reveal the exact cause of the data breach, but confirmed that a cybercrime group was behind it. The telecommunications company said, “As a result of the company's investigation, we determined that it was highly likely that a third party was a cybercrime group that obtained personal identification information.” filing We are with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Frontier has not officially named the cybercrime group responsible for the attack. However, it's worth noting that the RansomHub hijacking group claimed responsibility for the attack this month on June 4th, raising questions about the timing of Frontier's data breach notification.
RansomHub says Frontier was hacked and data of 2 million customers was stolen. This data reportedly includes personal information such as name, address, birthday, social security number, email address, and details about Frontier services. RansomHub listed Frontier's name on a dark web extortion site and gave the company a deadline to meet its ransom demands. If Frontier does not respond to their demands, RansomHub said it will sell the stolen data to the highest bidder.
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What is Frontier doing about data breaches?
Frontier said it responded quickly to the cyberattack. We brought in leading cybersecurity experts to investigate and contain the breach while strengthening our network defenses to prevent future intrusions. Law enforcement and regulatory authorities have been notified.
The telecom giant is offering one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft resolution services to affected customers. Frontier mentions a registration deadline but does not specify a date. Take action immediately to ensure you are covered.
We reached out to Frontier for comment but did not hear back by deadline.
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6 steps you should take to protect yourself from a data breach
If you suspect you have been affected by this data breach, follow these steps to protect your personal data and privacy.
1) Invest in identity theft prevention. If you believe your personal data has been compromised, scammers may try to impersonate you to gain access to your personal information. The best thing you can do to protect yourself from this type of fraud is to sign up for an identity theft service. If you qualify, take advantage of Frontier's free Kroll subscription.
Identity theft companies can monitor personal information such as Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses to alert you if that information is being sold on the dark web or used to open accounts. It can also help you freeze bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. Get tips and best options on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
2) Raise a fraud alert: Contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) and request that a fraud alert be placed on your credit file. This makes it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name without verification.
3) Beware of phishing attempts. Be wary of emails, phone calls, or messages from unknown sources asking for personal information. Do not click on suspicious links or provide sensitive information unless you can verify the legitimacy of the request.
The best way to protect yourself from clicking on malicious links that install malware that can access your personal information is to install antivirus protection on all your devices. It may also alert you to phishing emails or ransomware scams. Check out our picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices..
4) Check your Social Security benefits: It is important to regularly check that your Social Security benefits have not been tampered with or altered in any way to protect your financial security and prevent potential fraud.
5) Invest in a personal data removal service. Although no service guarantees the removal of all data from the Internet, we recommend using a removal service if you want to continuously monitor and automate the process of removing information from hundreds of sites on an ongoing basis over a long period of time. Use my recommendations here to remove your personal data from the internet..
6) Change your password. By simply changing your password, a thief can render the stolen password useless. Choose a strong password that you don't use anywhere else. A better way is password manager We will create one for you.
The IT group said the TICKETMASTER data breach exposed the data of 560 million customers.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Frontier said it is strengthening its systems to prevent such incidents from happening again. While we appreciate the company's actions to correct the issue, this incident should not have occurred, especially when the customer entrusted us with sensitive information. Frequent data breaches suggest worrisome gaps in the cybersecurity preparedness of large tech companies. As a customer, you should be careful when sharing sensitive information and avoid phishing attempts from scammers.
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