Symantec Data Stolen by Hacker Is Fake, Company Says

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://gizmodo.com/symantec-data-stolen-by-hackers-was-fake-company-says-1835493353

By Dell Cameron
Gizmodo
June 13, 2019

Data including a purported list of clients was reportedly stolen from the 
leading antivirus maker Symantec in a breach the company has downplayed as 
having no ramifications.

The Guardian reported on the incident Thursday, saying the stolen data 
included passwords and Symantec account numbers. The list of ostensible 
clients included the Australian federal police, major banks, universities, 
and retailers, among others, that paper said.

According to Symantec, though, the data is largely phony. The company said 
the incident was contained to a test environment it used for demonstration 
purposes. According to the Guardian, Symantec described the data as 
“low-level and non-sensitive” and the email accounts involved as “dummy 
e-mails.”

A Symantec spokesperson told the paper that the client list itself was 
also fake and that the entities “are not necessarily Symantec customers.” 
The Guardian did confirm that some of them, including Australia’s 
Department of Social Services, are users of Symantec’s products. Another 
government agency listed among the stolen files, however, hasn’t existed 
in six years.

[...]

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