While Charlie Sheen maniacally pronounces his self induced “winning” status to a saddened, bewildered and exhausted fan base, another growing menace actually seems poised for “winning”.
Consumers got a wake up call on two fronts with the disclosure of the massive Epsilon Interactive data breach last week.
Our first wake up call stems from the sheer length of the list of companies who utilize Epsilon’s email service to reach their customers.
The second wake up call is the reality that so many trusted brands outsource our names and email addresses to a third party email service provider (ESP) who has now been exposed as functionally incapable of protecting the private personal data that was entrusted to them.
The truth is that there is nothing you or I can do to prevent these leaks when the repository for our data is in the hands of other people.
According to the consumer advocacy group Cauce, the following financial institutions were affected by the breach:
- Ameriprise Financial
- Barclays Bank of Delaware
- Capital One
- CITI
- JP Morgan Chase
- Moneygram
- Scottrade
- TD Ameritrade
- TIAA-CREF
- U.S. Bank
- World Financial Network National Bank (Victoria’s Secret card)
The CAUCE report went on to explain:
“As well, these marketing and retail companies have reportedly had their client email, names and in some cases, other information stolen”:
- 1800Flowers.com
- AbeBooks (division of Amazon)
- Airmiles
- Beachbody
- Benefit Cosmetics
- Best Buy
- Best Buy Canada Reward Zone
- Brookstone
- City Market
- CollegeBoard
- Dillons
- Disney Destinations
- Eileen Fisher
- Ethan Allen
- Food 4 Less
- Fred Meyer
- Fry’s
- Hilton HHonors
- Home Shopping Network
- Jay C
- King Soopers
- Krogers
- Lacoste
- L.L. Bean credit card
- Marks and Spencer
- Marriott Rewards (Update: Marriottt confirmed NO points totals were taken)
- McKinsey Quarterly
- New York & Company
- QFC
- Ralphs
- Red Roof Inns
- Ritz-Carlton (Update: Ritz-Carlton confirmed NO points totals were taken)
- Robert Half
- Smith’s
- Soccer.com
- Target
- TiVo
- Verizon
- Viking River Cruises (unconfirmed)
- Walgreens (for the second time)
The impact of the Epsilon breach is expected to cause a sharp, severe and extended series of spear phishing attacks. These phishing attacks will target and exploit the trusting relationship between the victimized brands and their clients.
It is estimated that tens of millions of people’s names and email addresses have been exposed as a result of this breach. In the past three days, our own household has received at least three notifications from worried banks and retailers.
Consumers should brace themselves for what could be a barrage of incoming phishing attempts, disguised as communication from a trusted vendor. Although most savvy internet users are aware of these ploys, now is a good time for a few timely reminders.
- Consumers can report attempted phishing attacks to the U.S. Secret Service by emailing them at: phishing-report@uscert.gov
- Never click on a link in an email, just type the web address into your browser yourself to avoid infectious malware.
- Security expert Brian Krebs reported that over 100 ESP’s (email service providers) have been under attack by fraudsters in recent months. This is an ongoing, sustained effort to grab your information!
- Gmail, Earthlink and Yahoo all provide tools to help fight spam and phishing attacks.
An ancient proverb comes to mind: ” Trust in the gods, but tie up your camel anyway!”
