Monster.com reports theft of user data

[OhioChick]

The company says its database has been illegally accessed

January 24, 2009 (IDG News Service) Monster Worldwide Inc. is advising its users to change their passwords after data, including e-mail addresses, names and phone numbers, was stolen from its database.

The break-in comes just as the swelling ranks of the unemployed are turning to sites such as Monster.com to look for work.

The company disclosed on its Web site that it recently learned that its database had been illegally accessed. Monster.com user IDs and passwords were stolen, along with names, e-mail addresses, birth dates, gender, ethnicity and, in some cases, users' states of residence. The information does not include résumés or Social Security numbers, which Monster.com said it doesn't collect.

Monster.com posted the warning about the breach on Friday morning and does not plan to send e-mails to users about the issue, said Nikki Richardson, a Monster.com spokeswoman. The SANS Internet Storm Center also posted a note about the break-in on Friday.

USAJobs.com, the U.S. government Web site for federal jobs, is hosted by Monster.com and was also subject to the data theft. USAJobs.com also posted a warning about the breach.

Monster.com has been checking for misuse of the stolen information but hasn't yet found any, it said. The company has made changes since discovering the break-in but won't discuss them because it doesn't discuss security procedures publicly and because it is still investigating the incident, Richardson said.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126738&intsrc=hm_list

[Kahuna]

1. I was on Monster this AM and saw the notice. One thing I'm glad about..

my username and password for Monster is unique. Otherwise, :scared:

[Azlady]

2. My local paper uses monster.com so everyone be careful...

[Muttocracy]

3. thanks - will send to some friends who were jobhunting. nt