April’s cyberattack on internet service provider Frontier Communications enabled hackers to steal Social Security numbers for 750,000 users. In a data breach notice sent to Maine’s attorney general, the ISP says the incident affected 751,895 people. The company is preparing to send out data breach notifications to affected consumers as the hacking group allegedly responsible preps to sell the stolen information. The group, known as RansomHub, claims it stole 5GB of Frontier data that also includes email addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, and physical addresses of 2 million customers.
(Credit: RansomHub)
“We gave Frontier 2 months to contact us but they don’t care about clients’ data,” the group said while posting a screenshot of some of the stolen data. If real, access to such data could make it easier for cybercriminals to pull off identity theft schemes.RansomHub is a relatively new ransomware group that has made headlines in recent weeks for attacking dozens of companies and organizations, including the international auction house Christie’s. Like other ransomware providers, the RansomHub gang rents out access to its attack to other cybercriminals and takes 10% of the resulting profits.
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Frontier didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the letter it plans on sending to affected customers mentions offering “one year of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft resolution services to help protect your information.” It notes that Frontier does not believe personal financial information was affected.In a May earnings call, Frontier executives also said the company’s IT Team “was quickly able to contain the incident” and bring operations back to normal.
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