The Top-Targeted Websites in January 2022

Constella Intelligence has released its monthly digital security report, highlighting the top cyber incidents of January. The cyber security specialists at Constella consider digital security incidents to be those that occur when a business suffers a vulnerability yet does not receive confirmation as to whether data or other information was stolen.  

Alternatively, Constella considers a data breach to be a confirmed incident in which login credentials, financial records, medical records, personal records, or sensitive information is improperly accessed or disclosed as a result of a leak, hack, or sabotage. Furthermore, the group considers accidental exposure to be a data breach caused by insufficient digital security defenses or human error.  

Let’s take a look at the top data breaches from the month gone by that highlight the importance of maintaining up-to-date internet security and privacy protection. Read through the top hacks of January as detailed below, and you will find a common theme emerges in that most of these targeted websites are either based in Asia or geared toward the Asian market.

Zing.vn

Zing.vn is a Vietnamese website with news and diverse multimedia. The site endured a nasty data exposure in which nearly 30,000,000 passwords, usernames, IP addresses, physical addresses, phones, birthdates, and full names were accessed by hackers. Though the website’s administrators have not revealed exactly when the improper access occurred, it is believed that the event took place in April of 2018. However, the breach was not reported until January of 2022.

Travelio.com

Travelio.com, a website for travel reservations throughout Asia, endured significant data exposure in which nearly 19,000,000 full names, email addresses, IP addresses, snail mail addresses, banking information, phone numbers, and birthdates were obtained. 
This massive data breach occurred in the final month of 2021. The attack was publicized in January of 2022.

Brandi.co.kr

Brandi.co.kr, a Chinese apparel website, endured extensive data exposure that amounted to 6,395,371 stolen email addresses, usernames, and passwords. The exposure occurred in the fall of 2021 yet was not reported until the first month of 2022.

Trell.co

Trell.co was ambushed by hackers. This website is a lifestyle video app that primarily targets the Indian market. The digital miscreants behind the attack illegally accessed 4,318,528 emails. The breach occurred in November of 2021 but was not reported until the start of the new year.

Elitemate.com

Elitemate.com, a website that claims to “simplify socializing” by connecting like-minded people with one another through instant messaging and video chats, was compromised at the start of the new year. The digital attack exposed slightly more than 1,000,000 records to a hacking collective. The records included everything from email addresses to physical addresses, full names, IP addresses, and phone numbers.