Hackers steal personal info from Monster

Job seekers targeted in big data theft


27 January 2009 9:18 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

In one of the biggest cases of data theft, hackers have stolen the personal data of millions of job hunters from Monster.co.uk.

The information, that includes user names, passwords, telephone numbers and email addresses, could have been stolen from as many as 4.5 million users of the job seeking site.

The site says: "Monster is the target of illegal attempts to access and extract information from its database. We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data".

Although the information is not said to include personal financial data, the theft could put many who use the same user names and passwords on other sites at risk.

Monster.co.uk has issued a statement saying it has warned its users, launched an investigation and has now taken "corrective steps".
Related
Full tags
Biz

share print story pdf email story

Recommended articles

Search

Loading

Best iPad 2 apps

We detail the best iPad 2 and iPad apps in the app store Which iPad app should you download?

Windows 8

All the features and details of the new Microsoft operating system explained What's new in Windows 8?

iPad 3 rumours

What comes next? We look at the possible features, leaks, images, specs and more

Pocket-lint poll

Q. Will you be buying a PS Vita?

Vote YES Vote NO

» LAST TIME
When asked Will Samsung be making a mistake if the Galaxy S III isn't shown at Mobile World Congress in February? 51% said yes and 49% said no