More prominent data leaked while Credit Agencies explain how hackers stole it
By Michael Kelley, Business Insider
On Monday a website published sensitive identifying information of 15 public figures including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Jay-Z, And Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The site has since published six more names — including U.S. Marshals Director Stacia Hylton and Mitt Romney — while the biggest U.S. credit agencies explained how cybercriminals impersonated victims to access the data.
The U.S. Marshals Service is America’s oldest federal law enforcement office and second oldest federal agency.
A spokesman for TransUnion Corp. said that hackers accessed the credit histories by using “social-security numbers and other sensitive, personal identifying information” they already had from other sources, according to Jordan Robertson of Bloomberg.
Since 2006 hackers have obtained more than 17,000 credit reports from banks, auto dealers and other businesses that rely on credit reporting agencies, according to a Bloomberg investigation.
The website disclosed TransUnion credit reports on First lady Michelle Obama, FBI director Robert Mueller, Mitt Romney, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Beyoncé Knowles, and Hulk Hogan.
Equifax Inc. credit reports on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, Jay-Z, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Kris Jenner were also leaked.
Credit reports on Tiger Woods, Sarah Palin, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears as well as personal information of Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and Kanye West also appeared.
The website has the Soviet Union’s .su country code, a domain originally created in 1990 that has been increasingly used by cybercriminals. The website’s Twitter page (now suspended) contained what Russia Today called “bad Russian.”
President Obama acknowledged the leak and said that the FBI and Secret Service were looking into it.
Also in Tuesday the president also invited select CEOs to the White House Situation Room to discuss cybersecurity threats after James R. Clapper Jr., the nation’s top intelligence official, said critical infrastructure attacks are more dangerous than terrorism.
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