A notorious organization known for hacking into systems in order to steal vast amounts of information may have gained access to Carnival Corporation’s massive data base.
Who Is Behind the Potential Breach
While ShinyHunters may sound like a musical group you’d hire to entertain at your child’s birthday party, they are, in fact, far more sinister.
The organization has been behind some of the largest data breaches to take place over the past 25 years. Among their past victims have been companies as diverse as Microsoft, Pizza Hut even several universities.
Now, according to numerous reports, ShinyHunters is claiming to have accessed troves of Carnival Corporation information and issued a ransom threat.
What Carnival Is Doing
In a statement, a Carnival Corporation rep told Cruise Radio that “after detecting unauthorized online activity involving a singer user account, we acted quickly to shut it down and block any further unauthorized access and have notified law enforcement.”
The real questions revolve around what “single user account” was accessed and whether it may have opened something of a cyber wormhole which might serve as a gateway to far more information.
“Data privacy and protection are extremely important to Carnival Corporation,” the spokesperson continued, “and we’re working closely with trusted global security experts to be thoughtful and deliberate in our review of the data involved, recognizing that anonymous reports circulating online are not always accurate.”
The “anonymous reports” mentioned are likely those which claim that information from several million accounts has already been released.
For example, the site HaveIBeenPwned wrote that ShinyHunters “published the [stolen] data publicly, which contained 8.7 million records with 7.5 million unique email addresses.”
The site went on to make the very specific claim that data released included information pertaining to Holland America Line — a division of Carnival Corporation — and their Mariner Society loyalty program.
It went on to say that the information included “names, dates of birth, genders and data relating to status within the loyalty program.”
What Happens Next
Meanwhile, the Carnival spokesperson concluded by saying, “If we determine personal information was affected, we will follow all disclosure requirements and communicate directly with any impacted individuals.”
Meanwhile, HaveIBeenPwned.com recommends that if you believe your information may have been compromised, you should change your password immediately. They also suggest enabling two-factor authentification, which is standard advice when it comes to adding an added layer of protection to any and all accounts.
In 2020, Princess Cruises had a hacker gain access to company emails.
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