Verizon owns up to data leak compromising millions of customers

Bad news for Verizon customers this month. Last week the telecom giant admitted that personal data belonging to about six million customers was “leaked” online. The issue was discovered by UpGuard, the same net security firm that found leaked voter data last month. In its initial report, UpGuard reportedly told Verizon the leak could affect up to 14 million customers, but later cut that estimate by more than half. The reason given for the leak? Human error, in the form of a “misconfigured security setting” on a cloud server.

According to the report, the “leak” put customer names, contact information, and PIN codes up on the web. These PIN codes are not for credit or debit cards. They are used when customers call in to speak to a Verizon representative. That’s not to say those PINs do not put consumers in a vulnerable position. UpGuard’s Dan O’Sullivan, told CNN, “A scammer could receive a two-factor authentication message and potentially change it or alter [the authentication] to his liking… Or they could cut off access to the real account holder.”

Definitely not a pleasant prospect for Verizon customers. But, since no “sensitive” data such as credit card numbers or social security numbers were reportedly leaked, will customers get excited about this news? Maybe, maybe not. They’re certainly not happy about it. Nor are they happy with Verizon, who has to wear at least some of the blame for this “mistake.” Currently, the lion’s share of the blame for the leak is being leveled at NICE Systems, an Israeli company Verizon hired to facilitate customer service calls. According to the report, the leaked customer data was collected over the past six months, ending on June 22. UpGuard claims NICE’s security systems were not setup correctly, creating the vulnerability that turned private information public. Not for long, but long enough to have it grabbed and dropped on the web.

And there is plenty of blame. The information is initially stored on secure Amazon servers. These servers are vulnerable when their default security settings are adjusted, as NICE apparently did to the Verizon accounts. That doesn’t mean customers are going to be paying any attention to that distinction. Any time information is accidentally made public, it’s bad news, even if it’s not, technically, financial or personal information that can’t be accessed anywhere else. Verizon will have to proactively reassure customers. In the meantime, they are currently telling all their customers to change their PINs ASAP. And stay tuned…more information may be coming.

Robert Gillings is an award winning writer, producer, actor architectural designer, philosopher and financial consultant.