Animal activists claim to have hacked into insurance company to steal financial data on badger cull supporters

[Erica Absetz <erica () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339351/Animal-activists-claim-hacked-NFU-insurance-company-steal-financial-data-badger-cull-supporters.html

Animal rights activists claim to have hacked in to an insurance
company linked to the National Farmers Union to steal financial date
on badge cull supporters.

The hackers state that they have broken into the systems of NFU Mutual
and have been extracting and modifying customer accounts since last
month.

NFU Mutual are investigating the claims but say there are no signs of
data intrusion.

Badgering supporters: The hackers claim to have stolen information on
National Farmers' Union Mutual's customers who support the badger cull

In a statement published on the website of US animal right publication
BiteBack, the activists claim to have ‘exploited vulnerabilities’ in
NFU Mutual’s systems since last month, in a hack which had been
planned since September.

The activists boast of obtaining information on NFU Mutual’s customers
and allegedly modifying the accounts of people they say are involved
in the badger cull.

They claim their hack had allowed them to ‘download almost all of
their customer files including full financial details, claims and
account history.’

The letter, which was sent to BiteBack anonymously, was signed:
‘BrockCyberClan - saving wildlife one bit at a time’.

The self-proclaimed hackers made threats to exploit the details of NFU
mutual customers, adding:‘We will show the same mercy to their
finances that they show to the lives of badgers. We already have plans
to use the details we have on some of the more high profile supporters
of the cull.’

Hack attack: The activists say they have had access to the NFU
Mutual's database since May and have full financial details, claims
and account history of their customers

Protest: Brian May joins campaigners opposed to the badger cull gather
outside the Department for Food and Rural Affairs earlier this month

The claims by the anonymous hackers have yet to be verified and an NFU
Mutual spokesman said the company has ‘very strong systems and
controls in place’ to safeguard their data against hacking.

He added that there was no sign of customers’ records being tampered
with and that NFU Mutual is ‘entirely separate’ from the National
Farmers’ Union.

The badger cull started in bovine TB hotspot areas in Gloucestershire
and Somerset on June 1 and, if successful in reducing bovine TB, will
be rolled out more widely in a bid to stop the disease, which is
spread between badgers and livestock and between cattle.

The cull is designed to run for six weeks in order to kill at least 70
per cent of badgers in each area. In total about 5,000 animals will
die.

The Government said the cull is necessary as part of efforts to stop
increasing outbreaks of TB in dairy and beef herds, which saw 28,000
cattle slaughtered in England last year.

The push for a badger cull has been led by Environment Secretary Owen
Paterson who said called it an ' an important step towards taking the
action we need to tackle the spread of this disease [Bovine TB] in
wildlife.
’
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