Security breach/compromise - 2014

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Avast takes down forums after breach hits 400,000 users
User names, email addresses and hashed passwords were compromised
- http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-400-000-users
May 27 2014

- https://blog.avast.com/2014/05/26/av...due-to-attack/
May 26, 2014 - "The AVAST forum is currently offline and will remain so for a brief period. It was hacked over this past weekend and user nicknames, user names, email addresses and hashed (one-way encrypted) passwords were compromised. Even though the passwords were hashed, it could be possible for a sophisticated thief to derive many of the passwords. If you use the same password and user names to log into any other sites, please change those passwords immediately. Once our forum is back online, all users will be required to set new passwords as the compromised passwords will no longer work... We are now rebuilding the forum and moving it to a different software platform. When it returns, it will be faster and more secure. This forum for many years has been hosted on a third-party software platform and how the attacker breached the forum is not yet known. However, we do believe that the attack just occurred and we detected it essentially immediately. We realize that it is serious to have these usernames stolen and regret the concern and inconvenience it causes you. However, this is an isolated third-party system and your sensitive data remains secure.
Sincerely,
Vince Steckler
CEO AVAST Software"

- http://www.databreaches.net/avast-ta...r-data-breach/
May 26, 2014
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Spotify - Important Notice to Our Users
- http://news.spotify.com/us/2014/05/2...-to-our-users/
May 27, 2014 Oskar Stål, CTO - "We’ve become aware of some -unauthorized- access to our systems and internal company data and we wanted to let you know the steps we’re taking in response. As soon as we were aware of this issue we immediately launched an investigation. Information security and data protection are of great importance to us at Spotify and that is why I’m posting today. Our evidence shows that only one Spotify user’s data has been accessed and this did not include any password, financial or payment information. We have contacted this one individual. Based on our findings, we are not aware of any increased risk to users as a result of this incident. We take these matters very seriously and as a general precaution will be asking certain Spotify users to re-enter their username and password to log in over the coming days. As an extra safety step, we are going to guide Android app users to upgrade over the next few days**. If Spotify prompts you for an upgrade, please follow the instructions. As always, Spotify does not recommend installing Android applications from anywhere other than Google Play, Amazon Appstore or https://m.spotify.com/. At this time there is no action recommended for iOS and Windows Phone users. Please note that offline playlists will have to be re-downloaded in the new version. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes, but hope you understand that this is a necessary precaution to safeguard the quality of our service and protect our users. We have taken steps to strengthen our security systems in general and help protect you and your data – and we will continue to do so. We will be taking further actions in the coming days to increase security for our users. Please click here* to read more."
* https://support.spotify.com/problems...android-update

** https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ile.android.ui
May 28, 2014

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Credit Card breach at Home Depot ...
- http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/09/b...at-home-depot/
Sep 2, 2014 - "Multiple banks say they are seeing evidence that Home Depot stores may be the source of a massive new batch of stolen credit and debit cards that went on sale this morning in the cybercrime underground. Home Depot says that it is working with banks and law enforcement agencies to investigate reports of suspicious activity. Contacted by this reporter about information shared from several financial institutions, Home Depot spokesperson Paula Drake confirmed that the company is investigating. “I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate,” Drake said... There are signs that the perpetrators of this apparent breach may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers responsible for the data breaches at Target, Sally Beauty and P.F. Chang’s, among others. The banks contacted by this reporter all purchased their customers’ cards from the same underground store – rescator[dot]cc — which on Sept. 2 moved two massive new batches of stolen cards onto the market:
A massive new batch of cards labeled “American Sanctions” and “European Sanctions” went on sale Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014
> http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-conten...nsanctions.png
... this crime shop has named its newest batch of cards “American Sanctions.” Stolen cards issued by European banks that were used in compromised US store locations are being sold under a new batch of cards labled “European Sanctions.” It is not clear at this time how many stores may be impacted, but preliminary analysis indicates the breach may extend across all 2,200 Home Depot stores in the United States. Home Depot also operates some 287 stores outside the U.S. including in Canada, Guam, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. This is likely to be a fast-moving story with several updates as more information becomes available. Stay tuned.
Update: 1:50 p.m. ET: Several banks contacted by this reporter said they believe this breach may extend back to late April or early May 2014. If that is accurate — and if even a majority of Home Depot stores were compromised — this breach could be many times larger than Target, which had 40 million credit and debit cards stolen over a three-week period."

- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/...ta-breach.html
Sep 2, 2014
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- https://atlas.arbor.net/briefs/index#908540839
High Severity
11 Sep 2014
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Home Depot hit by same Malware as Target
- http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/09/h...are-as-target/
Sep 7, 2014 - "... new -variant- of the same malicious software program that stole card account data from cash registers at Target last December..."
> http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...tail-accounts/
___

- http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0H327E20140908
Sep 8, 2014 - "... Home Depot Inc confirmed on Monday that its payment security systems have been breached, which could impact customers using payment cards at its stores in the United States and Canada. Home Depot, however, said it has found no evidence that personal identification numbers (PINs) have been compromised, it said in a statement*..."
* http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....ews&id=1964976
Sep 8, 2014

- http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs...ckpos-malware/
Sep 9, 2014