AdultFriendFinder.com has recently suffered a data breach. If you have ever had a user account with AdultFriendFinder, your personal information may have been stolen. Please contact us using the form on this page or call The Class Action News at 424-245-5505.
Background
FriendFinder Networks, Inc. has reported that its website AdultFriendFinder.com has recently been attacked by hackers. The hackers have broken into the website’s security, stolen information from millions of users, and have begun to sell the information online through so-called “dark web” sites. The stolen information includes personal data including email addresses, mailing addresses, computer IP addresses, usernames, dates of birth, marital status, and the sexual preference of the user. Within hours of the data leak, hackers on the criminal website have begun to hit victims with viruses and spam emails. It is unknown at this point if credit card information was stolen as well.
The data breach was first uncovered by U.K. news agency Channel 4, which reported that it found 15 spreadsheets containing the information of 3.9 million AdultFriendFinder users being sold online. AdultFriendFinder does not know exactly how many users may have been affected but it is currently investigating the data breach.
Channel 4 also reports that even deleted accounts have had their information stolen. Any information ever entered into the AdultFriendFinder website is at risk. Deleted accounts offer no protection against the data breach.
FriendFinder Networks, Inc. is an internet-based social networking and multimedia entertainment company. The company has over 40,000 websites in its network, and more than 600 million registered user accounts. The company’s subsidiary, and the only confirmed target of the hack, AdultFriendFinder has 63 million users worldwide.
Data Breach
A data breach occurs when an unauthorized person views, accesses, or retrieves protected or confidential data belonging to another. One of the most common types of data breach is a cyber attack. Computer hackers target organizations to illegally gain access to the secure information within. Although companies and other organizations are targeted, it is usually the information of individual people that the hackers are after. The personal and financial information of millions of people can be gathered all at once during a data breach. Once hackers have the information they usually use it to commit credit card and identity fraud. However, in cases like AdultFriendFinder, the hackers instead sell the stolen information. This potentially creates many more opportunities for criminals to commit fraud using the stolen information.
Potential Class Action
AdultFriendFinder has been the target of a data breach. It has been confirmed that at least 3.9 million users have had their information stolen. The actual number of victims may reach as much as 63 million users worldwide. The stolen data is being used to attack home computers and may potentially be used to commit criminal fraud.
If you have ever had a user account with AdultFriendFinder, your personal information may have been stolen. Please contact us using the form on this page or call The Class Action News at 424-245-5505. You may be part of a class action lawsuit.
