MTV Networks employee personal information exposed
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
2/7/08
Organization:
Viacom
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
MTV Networks
Victims:
Employees
Number Affected:
~5,000
Types of Data:
Names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and compensation
Breach Description:
"Files containing confidential data on about 5,000 employees at MTV Networks were illegally accessed by someone outside the company". The "security breach occurred after an Internet connection in an MTV employee's computer was compromised."
Reference URL:
Reuters
Rocky Mountain News
Report Credit:
Reuters
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
Files containing confidential data on about 5,000 employees at MTV Networks were illegally accessed by someone outside the company, the network told employees on Friday in a memo
MTV said in a statement that the security breach occurred after an Internet connection in an MTV employee's computer was compromised.
[Evan] As I stated in the previous breach "Understand that each and every connection we make from work to an Internet site is a potential (and at times successful) avenue of attack. We weigh the convenience and business benefits of using the Internet against the risk of exposure. It's about balance."
Although it was not immediately clear whether the password-protected files were opened, the company notified law enforcement and a credit monitoring company to safeguard the identities of the affected employees
The personal information that was accessed included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and compensation data
The company strongly encouraged affected employees to place a 90-day fraud alert on their credit files with the three major credit agencies, and offered them credit monitoring for two years at company expense.
"We are taking every appropriate action to investigate this incident and to protect you and the company in future,"
Commentary:
There was not a lot of information released about this breach. I wonder if this was a computer being used by Human Resources personnel. Human Resources personnel in many of companies I have worked with are some of the most difficult to train for some reason..
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:2/7/08
Organization:
Viacom
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
MTV Networks
Victims:
Employees
Number Affected:
~5,000
Types of Data:
Names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and compensation
Breach Description:
"Files containing confidential data on about 5,000 employees at MTV Networks were illegally accessed by someone outside the company". The "security breach occurred after an Internet connection in an MTV employee's computer was compromised."
Reference URL:
Reuters
Rocky Mountain News
Report Credit:
Reuters
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
Files containing confidential data on about 5,000 employees at MTV Networks were illegally accessed by someone outside the company, the network told employees on Friday in a memo
MTV said in a statement that the security breach occurred after an Internet connection in an MTV employee's computer was compromised.
[Evan] As I stated in the previous breach "Understand that each and every connection we make from work to an Internet site is a potential (and at times successful) avenue of attack. We weigh the convenience and business benefits of using the Internet against the risk of exposure. It's about balance."
Although it was not immediately clear whether the password-protected files were opened, the company notified law enforcement and a credit monitoring company to safeguard the identities of the affected employees
The personal information that was accessed included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and compensation data
The company strongly encouraged affected employees to place a 90-day fraud alert on their credit files with the three major credit agencies, and offered them credit monitoring for two years at company expense.
"We are taking every appropriate action to investigate this incident and to protect you and the company in future,"
Commentary:
There was not a lot of information released about this breach. I wonder if this was a computer being used by Human Resources personnel. Human Resources personnel in many of companies I have worked with are some of the most difficult to train for some reason..
Past Breaches:
Unknown
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