FriendFinder Networks, the parent company of a number of online dating services including AdultFriendFinder.com, Amigos.com, BigChurch.com and SeniorFriendFinder.com is reporting that it has been hacked and that personal data on up to 3.9 million of its 634 million members had been stolen.  Included in the compromised information were names, email addresses as well as information about the sexual orientation and habits of the company’s members.  This information puts these people in great jeopardy of identity theft.  FriendFinder Networks has hired Mandiant, a prominent cybersecurity company to investigate the matter.  Meanwhile, FriendFinder Networks is advising its members to change their user names and passwords.

TIPS

This hacking again emphasizes what I have been telling you for years.  You are only as safe and secure as the places with the weakest security that have your personal information.  It is for this reason that you should limit the amount of personal information that you provide the companies with which you do business as much as possible.

In regard to this particular hacking.  If you were a member of any of FriendFinder Networks’ dating sites, you should be particularly be wary of spear phishing, which is when specifically targeted emails and text messages are sent to you with personal information obtained through the hacking that make the messages appear legitimate.  These messages lure you into clicking on links with malware that will steal the information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.