Thousands of Norton LifeLock customer accounts hacked
Another password manager takes a hit
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Norton LifeLockhas announced that a large number customer accounts have been affected by a breach.
A customer notice from Gen Digital, Norton’s parent company, claimed that the breach was likely the result of a credential stuffing attack, where threat actors use lists of previously exposed passwords to hack into numerous accounts used by victims, on the presumption that they will have used the samepassword for multiple services.
On December 12 2022, Gen Digital said that it received a large number of failed login attempts, tipping it off to the attack. It believes that compromised accounts dated back to December 1.
Passwords at risk
Given the fact that many admit to reusing the same passwords for various accounts, these attacks can be quite effective.
The notices were sent to over 6,000 customers whose accounts had been hacked. Gen Digital stated that hackers may have ascertained personal information from hacking into customer accounts, such as names, phone numbers and addresses. Passwords stored using thepassword managerfeature may also have been accessed, with Gen Digital cautioning this could not be ruled out.
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LifeLock is anidentify theft protectionplatform by Norton, the company best known for its once market leading antivirus software. It also comes bundled with the company’s security suite Norton 360.
As Gen Digital itself recommends, multi-factor authentication is essential for keeping safe, by making sure it is actually you who is trying to access your account. It works by sending a verification prompt or code to another one of your devices, such as your smartphone, via SMS or a dedicatedauthenticator app, when a login is attempted on your account.
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LifeLock’s password manager isn’t alone in suffering a potential breach. LastPass has been having a torrid time since itscustomer’s password vaults were stolenlast year, despite assuring customers that the passwords remained encrypted.
Lewis Maddison is a Reviews Writer for TechRadar. He previously worked as a Staff Writer for our business section, TechRadar Pro, where he had experience with productivity-enhancing hardware, ranging from keyboards to standing desks. His area of expertise lies in computer peripherals and audio hardware, having spent over a decade exploring the murky depths of both PC building and music production. He also revels in picking up on the finest details and niggles that ultimately make a big difference to the user experience.
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