World’s first domain registrar Network Solutions disclosed a third-party could infiltrate the company’s security systems without authorization in August 2019. Network Solutions was acquired for $405 million in 2011, thus data breach affected not only Network Solutions, but also web.com and register.com. According to the announcement, hackers accessed a “limited number” of the records for accounts of current and former customers. The company claims that they became aware of the situation on 16 October 2019 but did not share information about how the data breach happened.
According to the blog post published by the company, hackers could only reach the personal identifying information (PII), such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and the services offered to the customers. The company started contacting the customers, whose information was stolen and warning them against the possible phishing attacks. They are also asked to change the passwords they are using as a precaution even though the login credentials were not compromised by the hackers.
The company also said:
We store credit card numbers in a PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant encryption standard and do not believe your credit card information is vulnerable as a specific result of this incident. That said, it is good practice to monitor your credit card account and we encourage you to notify your credit card provider if you see any suspicious charges.