Posted on 04/02/2011 8:46:19 PM PDT by brytlea
Due to the growing list of brands disclosing that they have been compromised as a result of this breach, I’m going to go ahead and tag this as a massive breach. And I only expect it to get bigger as more announcements come out from Epsilon customers.
Last night we reported on a breach at marketing services provider, Epsilon, the world’s largest permission-based email marketing provider. Initially we wrote that the breach had affected Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer. There is a list of companies at the link (but I don't know if that is going to be the full list, it sounds like there may be more yet).
It turns out that Kroger is only one of many customers affected by the breach at Epsilon.
(Excerpt) Read more at securityweek.com ...
Hrm, I just got an email from US Bank about this very subject.
At least, it claimed to be from US Bank....
I got one also tonite from HSN (Home Shopping Network). I have the feeling this is a rather wide ranging breach of security, with many businesses affected, and thus we are affected. Great. Mine said they are already increasing their security measures. Better late than never,
Ha! The Nigerians have no trouble finding me as it is!
Ditto. I received the same thing from US Bank this morning. I wonder how huge this breach will turn out to be?
Yeah, I wondered at first... is this really a big deal and then I wondered...did they get more info than just email addresses? I guess we get to just wait and wonder until a bunch of us find our whole IDs are stolen.
Strangely, some of the companies listed have NOT contacted me yet.
I know I’m going to keep a close eye on my bank account in the coming days.
Perhaps some companies aren’t sure what to tell their customers yet. This really creeps me out.
Good idea, and good point.
Indeed, banks and other financial institutions are required by law to be conservative and above-board with how they handle customer information given to marketing companies. The Federal Reserve and the SEC have recently issued joint guidelines on this very subject; the press release is at Federal Regulators Issue Final Model Privacy Notice Form, and the model customer privacy notification opt-in form is here.
Thank you for that info. And before this happened, I have to admit, I really didn’t know they did this.
Since a number of companies address you by name in official email as a way to distinguish their correspondence from spam and phishing attempts having names matched to emails could be a problem.
Yeah, I’m totally paranoid anymore anyway (had a couple of virii last year, never really figured out for sure how I got them because I thought I was careful—so I’m hyper careful now). But even so, it seems like the bag guys get better and smarter and more clever all the time. :( It’s why I refuse to do online billpay etc.
This is not an APPLE PING but just an alert ping about a major breach of security for email addresses... Just be aware that you may be at increased risk for phishing expedition due to this breach. — Swordmaker
I got the same message from College Boards. That sure explains the incredible spike in spam for the last few days. Now the question is, how to get rid of it. With all these email addresses out there it will be very difficult to get rid of. I imagine Epsilon is bracing for the inevitable class action suit. Lawyers will make millions and each person who gets spammed will make a couple of bucks.
I got an email from Brookstone about this same thing. I removed myself from their mailing list quickly thereafter, but I suspect my inbox will be full of garbage in the coming weeks.
I got that same notice from Disney over the weekend.
Yeah, I think removing your name now is not going to do any good. Darnit.
Isn’t that almost as frustrating as the scummy spammers?
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