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Two major Usenet providers have shut down their websites due to a breach at a partner company that has exposed customers to fraud and identity theft.
While UseNeXT and Usenet.nl have blamed “a security vulnerability at a partner company,” neither mentioned the alleged culprit used to carry out the attack. It has not yet been identified whether the violation occurred on the client-side desktop or server-side side.
According to a prepared statement from both providers, intruders were able to access account holders’ information, including names, billing addresses, bank details, and other data shared by users during the account creation process.
Usenet violation
Usenet is a decentralized and secure network of servers and clients that facilitates the connection between different users practically in “newsgroups”.
These are one of the oldest methods of data sharing and are still used for data sharing, pirated software, movies, TV shows, etc., as using the Usenet to share data means that it flows largely undetected.
Since most modern free Usenet offerings only provide slow access speeds, UseNeXT and Usenet.nl offer faster paid service and are considered among the few high profile providers.
“Unauthorized people have accessed our infrastructure through a security hole in a partner company. We are currently analyzing what damage may have occurred. For security reasons, all systems are currently offline, “said the UseNeXT statement.
Both companies have warned users to update their passwords as soon as the sites return, and to check their accounts for any unauthorized use. Users have also been asked to monitor their bank statements for fraudulent charges.
Via: ZDNet
