FriendFinder Networks, a major online dating and entertainment network, recently experienced a major hack.  

Sources indicate over 412 million user accounts were breached. The hack spanned six major websites.

Here is a breakdown of the number of accounts which were exposed for each website:

• Adultfriendfinder.com: 339.7 million
• Cams.com: 62.6 million
• Penthouse.com: 7 million
• Stripshow.com: 1.4 million
• Icams.com: 1 million

An unidentified website was also breached, affecting about 35,372 accounts.  

According to PC World, the network was hacked in October. FriendFinder stated that it discovered and fixed a vulnerability that “was related to the ability to access source code through an injection vulnerability.”

Unfortunately, though, a great deal of damage was done before the vulnerability was fixed. This will go down as one of the largest publicly disclosed hacks in history. To put things in perspective, the recent breach at Yahoo — widely regarded as the largest breach of all time — involved about 500 million accounts.

The tough part for FriendFinder Networks is that this was its second major breach in two years. It proves that once your business is hacked the first time, it will forever have a target on its back. Data breaches never really go away.

So heads up, business leaders: Each new hack should be taken as a warning. Your business is not safe from online criminals.  If your network is vulnerable in any way, it could suffer similar consequences as FriendFinder Networks. Now is not the time to have “breach fatigue.”

Take action now to reduce your chances of getting hacked.

A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York City; White Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.

In addition, our new Cybersecurity Compliance Certification for law firms will help keep your legal practice from becoming the next Panama Papers victim. This baseline cybersecurity audit for the legal industry should be considered seriously by all law firms.