Preparing for a New Type of Information Extortion
Businesses and individuals alike need to not only re-examine their security practices, but also reconsider why they're retaining information in the first place.
August 19, 2015 at 10:34 AM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New Jersey Law Journal
We've entered a brave new world. One where hackers don't just steal credit card numbers and personally identifiable information (PII), but instead use cyber-breaches to extort their targets directly.
The recent Ashley Madison hack is illustrative of this new type of exploit. A group calling itself the “Impact Team” broke into the Madison website and released a manifesto complaining about their “full delete” feature, calling it a “profitable scam.” Instead of the typical modus operandi of most cyber-thieves, the Impact Team instead issued the following demands:
Avid Life Media has been instructed to take Ashley Madison and Established Men offline permanently in all forms, or we will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers' secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'That's Disappointing': Only 11% of MDL Appointments Went to Attorneys of Color in 2023
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250