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Monster Waits 5 Days to Alert Users

  • Reuters, Friday, August 24, 2007 10:46 AM
As the days go by, more and more is being revealed about the massive security breach at Monster.com that resulted in the theft of information from some 1.3 million job seekers. The online recruitment site waited five days to tell users about what the report calls "one of the biggest Internet security breaches in recent memory." Using a Trojan, a program that facilitates the stealing of log-in information, hackers broke into the online recruitment site's bank of resumes to steal sensitive personal information from Monster's users.

The attack was launched from servers in Ukraine using a software program known as Infostealer. Web security firm Symantec identified the problem on August 17, and the firm set about locating and shutting down those servers. Thankfully, the information stolen didn't include bank account or credit card numbers; rather, it was limited to names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. However, hackers did sent out mass emails purporting to be from Monster requesting bank and credit card information. They also asked users to click on links that infected their computers with viruses.

In all, Monster has about 73 million resumes.

Read the whole story at Reuters »

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