A prominent global gold and copper mining company has recently been identified as one of the latest victims of a security flaw in Progress Software’s MOVEit file transfer platform, as reported by a cybersecurity researcher.
Brett Callow, a Canadian-based cyber security professional researcher for Emsisoft, tweeted on Wednesday that Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) was included in a global data theft incident that captured the data of hundreds of corporations and nearly 20 million individuals.
The hack was perpetuated by Russian cybercriminal organization, Clop, which has been around since 2020.
Clop commonly encrypts files of companies and individuals and demands a ransom in exchange for its safe return. If the ransom isn’t paid, the organization threatens to publish the information on the dark web.
The dark web serves as a platform commonly utilized by criminals to trade illicit content, including stolen personal financial data like credit card numbers, social security credentials and bank account information.
However, in the most recent incident that took place in late May, they executed a large-scale data theft by exploiting a vulnerability in the third-party file sharing system MOVEit. At the time of the attack, MOVEit had no available fix for this flaw.
MOVEit is owned by Massachusetts-based Progress Software Corp. Following the incident, Progress Software Corp. confirmed that it has addressed and resolved the vulnerabilities in its system.
The number of individuals impacted by #MOVEit has surpassed 20 million, after 1st Source Bank confirmed its incident affected 450k individuals (an oddly round number). #SRCE 1/2 pic.twitter.com/XcEEaqe8Ou
— Brett Callow (@BrettCallow) July 20, 2023
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Sun Life, Vancouver Transit Police among the affected
Approximately 384 known victims have been reported in the cybersecurity breach, including both internal users and those using MOVEit through service providers. Among them are Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF), which said last week that the personal information of its United States customers was compromised when one of its vendors, Pension Benefit Information, which used MOVEit, was among those affected.
Additionally, the Metro Vancouver Transit Police department reported that 186 of its files were copied. However, the agency mentioned it was a “limited number” of files without specifying their contents.
The Oregon Department of Transportation disclosed that data of approximately 3.5 million state residents was copied, and while the exact details of what was taken remain unclear, individuals with active Oregon ID or drivers’ licenses should assume their related information might have been involved.
Similarly, Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles stated that personal data of all residents with state-issued driver’s licenses, IDs, or car registrations was copied, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers. Additionally, the New York City public school system reported that the personal data of over 45,000 students and staff had been copied during the breach.
It appears that these companies were impacted by a significant cybersecurity breach due to vulnerabilities in MOVEit, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive information. While some organizations have provided specific details on the data copied, others have yet to disclose the extent of the breach fully.
Shares of Barrick Gold rose 0.7 per cent to $22.91 on Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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