Neopets Website Data Breach Impacts Nearly 70 Million Customers

Neopets' website has suffered a significant data breach. In all, just under 70 million users are affected by the breach. Below, we provide the details of the breach and outline some digital security tips to bolster your online defenses.

What Information Did the Breach Expose?

The breach exposed a considerable amount of information. The information plucked during the attack includes IP addresses, passwords, usernames, and more. The data pertains to customers of the Neopet virtual pet community.

What Will Hackers Do With the Information?

Digital thieves will likely use the information to zero in on individuals and businesses through phishing and spam attacks. Such attacks are designed to obtain personal information that has the potential to lead to identity theft.

How Should Compromised Neopets Customers Proceed?

Those who are Neopets members and those who have children with a Neopets account are encouraged to modify their password, replacing the old one with a new one consisting of at least eight numbers, letters, and special characters. Furthermore, the data breach also presents an opportunity to discuss the ever-present threat of digital evildoers with youngsters who use Neopets and other web-based services.

What can Businesses and People do to Prevent Breaches and Attacks?

Updating your digital defenses is the best place to start. Alter your passwords at least once every six months. Incorporate multi-factor authentication. Consider providing your hardworking team with the cyber security training they need to identify new and creative phishing attempts and other online threats.

Will Neopets Bounce Back From the Breach?

This is the second time Neopets' website has been hacked. However, the company's virtual pets are popular to the point that it is unlikely that customers will venture elsewhere. Neopets' first significant breach occurred in 2013 when digital miscreants stole 26 million Neopets accounts and sold them on the dark web. Fast forward to 2016, and an entire database of information about Neopets' customers was leaked on the web, providing members of the public, including criminals, with access to sensitive personal information about Neopets' customers.

Who is Behind the Attack?

The government name of the hacker responsible for the data breach is unknown. However, a hacker who uses the handle of "TarTarX" has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack. This hacker even posted an online ad to sell the information stolen from the hack to others. The post was made in a hacking forum on the web. The hacker is requesting just under six figures for the database of data. Furthermore, the attack also included nearly 500 MB of the company's site source code to boot.

What Will Become of the Compromised Accounts?

If the hacker's statements are accurate, it is possible to access the live version of the Neopets site database, meaning the details of all Neopets customers are at their fingertips. Everything from dates of birth to nationalities, street addresses, gender, and more is available not only for analysis but for sale to other criminals who undoubtedly will use the information for nefarious purposes.