Free credit report site appears to be source for celebrity data

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237545/Free_credit_report_site_appears_to_be_source_for_celebrity_data

By Jeremy Kirk
IDG News Service
March 12, 2013

A website that provides U.S. consumers with a free annual credit report 
appears to have been the source used by hackers to download those of 
celebrities including BeyoncA(c) and government officials including 
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller.

On Tuesday, a website called "Exposed.su" published Social Security 
Numbers, previous addresses, and birthdates of a range of well-known 
people, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Jay Z, 
Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Hulk Hogan, Donald Trump and 
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, among others. In the hacker world, 
the practice is known as "doxing."

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the agency is investigating the breach. All 
told, hackers released information on 20 people, but credit reports were 
not available for every victim.

Some of the personal data included credit reports from TransUnion, 
Experian and Equifax, the three main U.S. credit-rating agencies. 
Equifax spokesman Tim Klein said the source for the credit reports 
appears to be "Annualcreditreport.com" and not the result of a breach of 
the credit reporting agencies' databases.

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