Breach, Threat Management, Data Security

Web.com discloses breach affecting customer account info

Domain name registration and web development services provider Web.com has disclosed a recent data breach that impacts users' account information, and apparently also affects customers of its Network Solutions and Register.com brands.

The breach took place in late August 2019 when an unauthorized third party illegally accessed "a limited number of our computer systems," the company explained in an online notification. Web.com said it only discovered the intrusion on Oct. 16.

Exposed information includes customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and information regarding services offered to a given account holder. "We encrypt credit card numbers and no credit card data was compromised as a result of this incident," the notification points out.

Although the Web.com notification does not explicitly reference Network Solutions or Register.com, security expert Brian Krebs reported on his own website that all three brands are impacted.

Web.com's notification is hosted at the URL address notice.web.com. SC Media could not find an obvious or intuitive way to access or link to the online notification via the Web.com, NetworkSolutions.com or Register.com websites.

Web.com said that in response to the incident, it engaged a cybersecurity firm to investigate, informed federal authorities, began notifying affected customers via email and its website, and is requiring all users to reset their account passwords.

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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