Aura Data Breach Exposes 900,000 Contacts
▼ Summary
– Aura confirmed an unauthorized party accessed nearly 900,000 records containing names and email addresses due to a voice phishing attack on an employee.
– The compromised data originated from a marketing tool of a company Aura acquired in 2021, affecting 35,000 current and former Aura customers.
– The threat group ShinyHunters claimed the attack, leaked stolen files, and stated the breach included customer PII and corporate data.
– Exposed information includes names, email addresses, home addresses, and phone numbers, but not Social Security Numbers, passwords, or financial data.
– Aura is conducting an internal review with external experts, has informed law enforcement, and will notify affected individuals.
A recent security incident at the digital safety firm Aura has resulted in the exposure of nearly 900,000 records containing names and email addresses. The company confirmed that an unauthorized party gained access to this data, attributing the breach to a voice phishing attack that successfully targeted an employee. This event highlights the persistent threat of social engineering tactics, even for companies whose core business is protecting consumers online.
The compromised information originated from a marketing tool used by a company Aura acquired back in 2021. While the data set was extensive, Aura clarified that only 35,000 of the affected records belonged to its current or former customers. The exposed details for these individuals included full names, email addresses, home addresses, and phone numbers. Crucially, the company states that more sensitive data like Social Security Numbers, account passwords, and financial information remained secure and was not part of this breach.
Earlier this week, the notorious threat group known as ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the attack on its data extortion website. The group alleged it stole 12GB of files containing customer personally identifiable information along with corporate data. They subsequently leaked the stolen files online, claiming Aura failed to negotiate an agreement with them. An analysis by the Have I Been Pwned service confirmed the leak’s authenticity, adding the data to its breach notification database. The service noted that the exposed information also included customer service comments and IP addresses, and that a significant majority of the email addresses were already present in its system from previous unrelated security incidents.
In response to the breach, Aura is undertaking a comprehensive internal review with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts. The company has also notified relevant law enforcement agencies about the incident. Personalized notifications will be sent to all affected individuals in the near future. Aura, which markets itself as an all-in-one provider of identity theft protection, credit monitoring, and online security tools, has declined to comment further on ShinyHunters’ broader claims, including an alleged compromise of its Okta single sign-on system.
(Source: BleepingComputer)
