Toymaker VTech says data on 6.4 mln kids taken in unprecedented hack

VTech Holdings

01/12/2015 19:34

By Jim Finkle 
    BOSTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Digital toymaker VTech Holdings 
Ltd  0303.HK  said on Tuesday that data on about 6.4 million 
children was exposed in a hack of information on customers in 
more than a dozen countries. 
    The Hong Kong-based firm initially disclosed the attack on 
Friday, and said hackers took data of nearly 5 million adults, 
but it did not disclose how many children's profiles were 
accessed.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13N00Y  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13P138 
    In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, it 
disclosed that the number of children affected exceeded the 
number of adults, with data on some 6.4 million children 
accessed along with data on 4.9 million parents.  
    "I've never seen a hack that affected children as much as 
this one," said Chris Wysopal, co-founder of cyber security firm 
Veracode. "This is sort of the Ashley Madison for children. 
People unwittingly trusting their personal information in a 
company that wasn't equipped to handle it."  
     The company's statement said the children's profiles 
included only name, gender and birth date. Stolen data on their 
parents included name, mailing address, email address, secret 
question and answer for password retrieval, IP address, mailing 
address, download history and encrypted password. (http://(bit.ly/1LM1RMQ) 
    The largest number customers whose data was accessed were in 
the United States, followed by France, the United Kingdom, 
Germany, Canada, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. 
 
 (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Bernard Orr) 
 ((jim.finkle@thomsonreuters.com; +1-617-856-4344; Reuters 
Messaging: jim.finkle.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.us)) 
 
Keywords: VTECH CYBERATTACK/