Hackers target Deloitte; major security breach reported
What's the story
Deloitte, one of the top global accountancy firms, has been targeted by a major cyber-attack that compromised data of its clients, including private emails and plans of some blue-chip clients.
Although Deloitte discovered the attack in Mar'17, reports say attackers may have had access to the company's systems since Oct-Nov'16.
Confirming the cyber-attack, the company said "very few clients" were impacted.
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Deloitte's official statement
The statement said, "Deloitte remains deeply committed to ensuring that its cyber-security defenses are best in class, to investing heavily in protecting confidential information and to continually reviewing and enhancing cyber-security." It also said government authorities and regulators were informed of the breach.
The Attack
Hackers had free reign in network for long time: Sources
While Deloitte played down the significance of the cyber-attack, sources suggested the hack was more severe than what the company has revealed.
They claimed hackers accessed Deloitte's entire internal email database and all the administrative accounts.
It also appears that the attackers transferred/copied a significant amount of the confidential data.
Reportedly, some forensic investigators identified several gigabytes data "exfiltrated" to a UK server.
Clients
Deloitte yet to get to bottom of attack; internal-review ongoing
Deloitte provides auditing, tax and financial advice, and "high-end cyber-security services" to clients, including big banks, media companies, multinational firms, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies.
Reports say clients across all these sectors, including US government departments and household names, have been affected.
Deloitte said the hack had impacted six of its clients.
However, the number of victims could be more than six, say sources.
Details
No group has claimed responsibility so far
While no one has claimed responsibility for the Deloitte cyber-attack so far, initial investigations reportedly suggest the attackers were commercially motivated.
Deloitte said it has contacted and informed all the clients whose data was accessed.
However, it didn't confirm how much data was compromised or how many people were actually affected.
Deloitte added the attack caused "no disruption" to the affected clients' functioning.
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Data security firm Egress CEO Tony Pepper's statement
Pepper said compromised Deloitte email servers could be full of sensitive information. He added: "Multi-factor access control such as two-factor authentication is important. It makes it much harder to gain illicit access, and provides a warning if someone is trying to login without your knowledge."