Paramount discloses data breach exposing SSNs and other sensitive data

Leading US entertainment and streaming company Paramount has recently disclosed a security incident in which unidentified threat actors gained access to personally identifiable information.

According to a data breach notice sent to impacted individuals, the attack occurred in the late spring this year.

“We recently learned that, between May and June 2023, an unauthorized party accessed files from certain of our systems,” the notification reads. “Our investigation subsequently determined that the files contained some of your personal information.”

Paramount has yet to disclose whether unauthorized access to personal information was linked to its customers or employees, but the company says that attackers gained access to sensitive data, including Social Security Numbers, driver’s license numbers and even passport numbers.

“Based on our investigation, the personal information may have included your name, date of birth, Social Security number or other government-issued identification number (such as driver’s license number and passport number) and information related to your relationship with Paramount. The types of affected personal information varied by individual,” Paramount explained.

While the official letter offers no additional information regarding the number of impacted individuals, a Paramount spokesperson told BleepingComputer that only 100 individuals were affected by the breach.

"We did investigate an incident where we learned that an unauthorized party accessed certain files from our systems. Upon discovery of the unauthorized activity, we took swift action to identify and address the incident," Paramount told BleepingComputer.

"The personal information of less than 100 individuals may have been accessed by the unauthorized party and those individuals and the relevant authorities were notified."

Similar to other data breach disclosures from other firms this year, the notices sent to impacted individuals lack actionable information about the root cause of security incidents and other explanatory information for consumers.

Given the alarming rate of data breaches and leaks we read about daily, consumers need support and help in understanding the magnitude of such incidents and how they can impact them directly.

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