Bell Canada Client Data Hacked, No Connection with ‘WannaCry’ Ransomware Attack

According to Bell Canada, a hacker whose identity is unknown managed to acquire a few of its clients' names, e-mail addresses along with telephone numbers.

The giant in telecommunications states the hacker's unlawfully acquired data included about 1.9m currently working e-mail ids as well as about 1,700 client names with their currently working phone numbers. Moreover, there's little sign of any sensitive personal detail, especially password, alternatively any financial data getting accessed, Bell Canada confirms.

The company has started communicating with all those clients whose information got accessed. Bell says it has requested the cyber-crime department of RCMP to help the company in an investigation of the hack, while the company has reported the hack to Privacy Commissioner's federal office. The hack isn't associated with the existing WannaCry ransom software assaults in which data is encrypted and to retrieve it user must pay a hefty bitcoin sum. Incidentally, CTV Montreal is a subsidiary company of Bell Canada.

The company in a regret note has apologized to its clients following the incident and said it was getting in touch with people impacted in a direct way. Itworldcanada.com posted this, May 15, 2017.

Rewind 3-yrs back Bell substantiated during 2014 February that client usernames and passwords along with 5 credit card data belonging to Bell's over 20,000 small-sized businesses got divulged following a breach against certain intermediate IT provider.

True not a single password was hacked. But without doubt the cyber thugs, wasting little time, will use the stolen e-mail ids in correspondence with leaked password databases filched from other websites for finding words that may've been commonly used, in attempts toward cracking Bell clients' e-mail passwords. The stolen e-mail ids will also be used in correspondence with frequently created but unsafe passwords like "Monday1," "Password2," "Password1" and so on. The same details will further be used for executing phishing attacks and distributing spam.

Bell Canada assures all associated with it that it has taken urgent measures for securing affected computers, while in close coordination with cyber-crime department of RCMP is probing the breach. According to the company, it's as well getting in touch with affected clients.

» SPAMfighter News - 5/18/2017