It was recently revealed by cyber security researchers that SOS Online Backup have become the latest provider to suffer a major data breach with over 135 million records exposed across the globe including a significant proportion of UK users.
How was this breach discovered?
The breach was discovered by cyber security researchers who found that there was an exposed database which included over 70GB worth of sensitive data. This database was found in November 2019 but wasn’t properly looked over until December 9, 2019. Despite the fact that SOS Online Backup was told that they had suffered a breach, it took over 10 days to resolve the breach with the company waiting a number of months before informing their customers of this. SOS Online Backup have a number of databases across the globe which includes the UK and no doubts will face further action from the relevant regulatory bodies in those countries.
What personal information has been exposed?
The personal information that has been exposed from the database includes details such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, internal company details & account usernames. You will find that most of this information will be used in spear phishing campaigns to try and trick users into providing more information and sensitive data. It is important for all victims to check their accounts and check all forms of communication that their business is sending out to customers for suspicious messages.
How can a data breach impact on your business?
With the introduction of GDPR in May 2018, data privacy regulation has become the new norm as more and more countries look to implement regulations to help protect the public’s right to online privacy. If your company happens to suffer from a major data breach, you have to expect extra scrutiny from the regulatory authority in the way that you secure information as well as appropriate fines based on the levels of data breach.
What should you do to protect your business critical data and avoid data breaches?
Here at Advantage, we would recommend using Microsoft Azure for Backups as well as ensuring that all your Cyber Security in your business is up to scratch and up to date. To discuss your specific requirements and needs further please get in touch with our team of IT experts today.
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