PokerStars data breach exposes sensitive info of over 100,000 people

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker platform, is the latest company to fall victim to the MOVEit Transfer hack. The incident resulted in unauthorized access to names, Social Security Numbers, and addresses of as many as 110,291 individuals.

In a data breach notice filed with the Attorney General of Maine on July 20, the company said that it learned about the critical vulnerability impacting its third software provider on June 2 and that an investigation determined confidential customer and employee information had been exposed.

“We can confirm that PokerStars has been impacted by the global cybersecurity incident involving the MOVEit Transfer application,” PokerStars told PokerOrg. “Upon learning of the vulnerability, we promptly disabled access to the affected application and mobilized external IT forensic experts to thoroughly investigate the incident.”

“We have determined that some files associated with our PokerStars employees and customers may have been copied by an unauthorized third party as a result of this vulnerability and have notified impacted employees and customers as appropriate.”

Exposed Social Security Numbers can be used to commit serious offenses against data breach victims, including identity theft. As with any data breach exposing customer or employee data, users should remain vigilant and take precautions to prevent fraud and other related crimes.

Victims whose SSN and other PII have been exposed in this breach can safeguard their identity and finances by:

• Monitoring financial accounts for suspicious activities
• Consider placing a credit freeze on financial accounts to prevent cybercriminals from applying for loans in their name
• Watch out for social engineering attacks, including phishing
• Report fraudulent activity to police and financial institutions

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