You’ve probably heard of CafePress, a custom T-shirt and merchandise company allowing users to create their own unique apparel and gifts. With a plethora of users looking to make their own creative swag, it’s no surprise that the company was recently targeted in a cybercriminal ploy. According to Forbes, CafePress experienced a data breach back in February that exposed over 23 million records including unique email addresses, names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and passwords.
How exactly did this breach occur? While this information is still a bit unclear, security researcher Jim Scott stated that approximately half of the breached passwords had been exposed through gaps in an encryption method called base64 SHA1. As a result, the breach database service HaveIBeenPwned sent out an email notification to those affected letting them know that their information had been compromised. According to Engadget, about 77% of the email addresses in the breach have shown up in previous breach alerts on HaveIBeenPwned.
Scott stated that those who used CafePress through third-party applications like Facebook or Amazon did not have their passwords compromised. And even though third-party platform users are safe from this breach, this isn’t always the case. With data breaches becoming more common, it’s important for users to protect their information as best as they can. Check out the following tips to help users defend their data:
Check to see if you’ve been affected. If you know you’ve made purchases through CafePress recently, cafepress accounts compromised secure
