Sunday, September 04, 2022

Samsung says personal data of some U.S. customers exposed in breach

Published: Sept. 4, 2022 
By Mike Murphy


Samsung Electronics Co. is warning some U.S. customers that their personal data was exposed in a recent breach.

Samsung announced the breach in a brief statement late Friday, as Americans were about to start the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

The company stressed the breach did not involve Social Security numbers or credit- or debit-card numbers, but said data such as name, contact and demographic information, date of birth, and product registration information may have been affected. It was unclear exactly what “demographic information” may include.

In a separate statement, Samsung said the hacker acquired the data in late July, and the breach was discovered Aug. 4. The company said it has since secured its system, engaged with a leading cybersecurity company and is coordinating with law enforcement.

Samsung 005930, -0.87% said it emailed customers who were affected by the hack. It did not say how many customers were affected, nor why it waited nearly a month before informing them.

The South Korean tech giant said users’ devices are not at risk, and that affected users do not need to take any immediate actions, though it did warn to remain cautious of unsolicited emails asking for personal information and to avoid clicking on links in suspicious emails.

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