As we are still dealing with the pandemic and its effects on businesses, companies now have more issues to worry about apart from thinking about how to deal with difficult times.

One of these issues is the threat of cyber-attacks in the form of data breaches and ransomware attacks.

With most of the corporate staff working from home, there is an increased threat due to system vulnerabilities.

Hackers are getting more sophisticated in maliciously accessing company data whether its user/employee data, login credentials, contact details, or even crucial financial data of customers or employees.

Most of us may be knowing about the recent cyber-attacks at Big Basket and Halidrams. Both well-known brands, The grocery application company– Big Basket’s data was available for sale on the Dark Web and the retail food chain and snacks manufacturer Haldiram was the victim of a ransomware attack.

Let's take a look at 2 more major cyber-attacks that happened in corporate India this year.

<h3>Unacademy Data Leak </h3>

Unacademy, one of India's largest online learning platforms, recently suffered a data breach wherein databases of around 22 million user accounts were accessed by a hacker and were being sold on the Dark
 
Web. In May 2020, cyber intelligence company Cyble Inc. discovered that the data was being sold for USD 2000. The leaked details included usernames, SHA-256 hashed passwords, date joined, last login date, email addresses, first and last names, and whether the account is active, a staff member, or a superuser.

The last updated record in the leaked database was on 26th January 2020 which indicates the data may have happened hacked close to that date.

<h3>Indiabulls Ransomware Attack </h3>

Indiabulls, one of India’s largest housing/consumer finance, real estate, and wealth management company was the victim of a ransomware attack - CLOP ransomware on their system as confirmed by cyber intelligence firm Cyble. Indiabulls confirmed that the cyber-attack took place on June 2020 wherein there was a minor data breach.

Cyble stated that the current data leak includes snapshots of the highly sensitive bank-related documents of the company such as account transaction details, vouchers, letters sent to bank managers.

As per Cyble’s blog "The leaked data seems to be a warning by the ransomware operators to Indiabulls group to accept their terms within 24 hours. Otherwise, Clop (a ransomware-type virus) operators tend to leak a large lot of the company's confidential data”.

Indian corporates have not been the only victims of data leaks and cyber-attacks. Hackers have been targeting global hotel brands and hacking into their systems to fraudulently gain access to customer records.

Marriott Internal and MGM have been the latest victims of the ongoing trend of data breaches. The very fact that such global brands can have vulnerable and hackable systems makes us wonder how mid or small-sized hotels or corporates would be safeguarded against data hacks.

Let’s understand what went wrong in the cases of Marriott and MGM.

<h3>Marriott Data Leaks (2020 and 2018) </h3>
 
<b>2020 Data Breach </b>

Marriott International, one of the largest hotel chains in the world was the victim of a data breach in mid-January 2020 wherein the personal details of 5.2 million guests were affected.

These personal details included contact details, loyalty account information, additional personal details, partnerships and affiliations, and preferences.

Marriott identified the breach only in late February 2020 when they observed that a franchise property’s network was hacked by using login credentials of two Marriott employees obtained by the hackers who may have accessed the guest details.

<b>2018 Data Breach </b>

The 2020 data breach happened within 2 years of Marriott having suffered a major data breach in 2018 which may have affected up to 500 million guests. in September 2018, the central reservation system of Marriott’s Starwood brands (including hotels like Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, and W) was hacked.

For 327 million guests, personal details like names, email addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers, arrival and departure information, VIP status, and loyalty program numbers. For some guests, details like payment card numbers and payment card expiration dates were leaked.

Since the breach included 7 million guest records for people in the UK, the Marriott hotel chain was eventually fined $ 123 million by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) UK for failure to protect personal data as per General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. the hotel chain eventually paid only $ 23.7 million after a year’s delay.

<h3>MGM Grand Data Leak </h3>

MGM Grand suffered a data breach in 2019 wherein the personal details of 10.6 million guests were leaked.

The number increased to 142 million in February 2020 when ZDNet, a technology news website observed that the hackers posted the count of records online for sale for $ 3000 on a dark web cybercrime marketplace.

The hacker gained access to one of the hotel's cloud servers and stole information on the hotel's past guests.

An MGM spokesperson also pointed out that "the vast majority of data consisted of contact information like names, postal addresses, and email addresses." Financial information, ID or Social Security numbers, and reservation (hotel stay) details were not included, MGM said in February.

<h4>How Riskpro Can Help You? </h4>

Riskpro offers Cyber Security consulting, audits, and training. For more details, contact us at info@riskpro.in

<p><small>Author
Anita Jagasia
Manager 
Riskpro India 
info@riskpro.in 
December 2020
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