ADT data breach impacted over 5.5 million accounts, says Troy Hunt

Noted security researcher Troy Hunt, who operates the popular data breach repository Have I Been Pwned, stated that a data breach involving home security company ADT compromised 5.5 million accounts.

 

Headquartered in Florida, ADT Inc. is a leading American security and smart home solutions provider offering residential and commercial security systems, alarm monitoring, video surveillance, and automation services. The company helps millions of customers safeguard their homes and businesses through advanced technologies and 24/7 professional monitoring solutions.

 

In a data security incident notice published on its website, ADT said that its cyber security systems detected unauthorised access on April 20 to a limited set of data belonging to customers and prospective customers. The home security service provider immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

It also took steps to secure the affected systems, including terminating the intrusion and notified relevant law enforcement authorities about the same.

 

The investigation confirmed that the exposed data included customers’ names, phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers or Tax IDs. However, ADT stated that no payment-related information, such as bank account details or credit card data, was accessed.

 

The company also confirmed that its customers’ security systems remained unaffected and were not compromised as part of the incident.

 

The incident was reported to Texas state regulators where ADT said it has identified at least 33,431 individuals impacted by the incident.

 

“ADT’s protocols performed as designed: the breach was identified quickly, the threat was contained, and the scope was limited. ADT has directly notified all impacted individuals and will offer complimentary identity protection services as appropriate,” ADT said.

 

Recently, an analysis from data breach repository Have I Been Pwned revealed that 5.5 million accounts were exposed in the breach. The compromised data included names, dates of birth, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers.

 

 

 

The ShinyHunters hacker group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on ADT, listing the company as a victim on its data leak site. The group claimed it had obtained more than 10 million records containing personal and corporate information, and threatened to release the data publicly unless a ransom was paid by April 27.