Acer’s e-commerce site has been breached by an unknown third party. Customers who used the site from May 12, 2015 to April 28, 2016 may have their personal information stolen.
Customer Names, Addresses, Credit Card Information and Three-Digit Security Codes May Have Been Stolen in the Breach
Acer’s notice informs the potentially affected customers that:
We do not collect Social Security numbers, and we have not identified evidence indicating that password or login credentials were affected.
It’s not clear how many user accounts were breached. As of now Acer are notifying their US customers, but it’s likely that users from other countries are also in jeopardy.
Is Acer Doing Anything About It?
In their notice, Acer claims to be working with outside cybersecurity experts and federal law enforcement to fix the issue. They also suggest to the potential victims of identity theft or fraud to file a police report. Acer also added a Resource Guide containing information that can assist the victims of the security breach.
Data Breaches Continue to Increase!
A new study by the Ponemon Institute and IBM puts the dollar price of a security breach at around 4 million! The amount of hacks per year continues to grow. There was a 64% increase of security incidents in 2015 compared to 2014. The most expensive attacks occur in the healthcare industry, with 355 per compromised record, about a 100$ more than average. The study demonstrates the growing need for stronger cyber security.
Hundreds of millions of users are affected by major security breaches that include Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr.
The high financial cost of these security incidents proves that companies, both big and small, should prioritize cyber security. Ted Julian, IBM’s VP said that “the amount of time, effort and costs that companies face in the wake of a data breach can be devastating, and unfortunately most companies still don’t have a plan in place to deal with this process efficiently. While the risk is inevitable, having a coordinated and automated incident response plan, as well as access to the right resources and skills, can make or break how much a company is impacted by a security event.”
At the end of the day, the financial cost of upping security is cheaper than fixing the damages after a hack. Companies should invest more into protecting their users’ personal data from malicious hackers.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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