Last week Dell Technologies started notifying 49 million customers of a data breach. Should you be worried? As reported by Daily Dark Web, this cybersecurity incident impacts customers who made purchases from Dell between 2017 and 2024. Chances are if you bought a Dell device during this time frame, you might be impacted by this data breach.
Data exposed
It has been reported this cybersecurity incident contains names, physical addresses, and Dell hardware information which includes service tags, item description, date of the order, and warrant information. Dell does not believe there is a significant risk to their customers who are involved in this incident.
However, whenever names and addresses are exposed, there is always considerable risk. Bleeping Computer reports on two separate incidents involving scams and mailing it to potential victims.
Just an address
Whether personal or a business address, addresses are generally public knowledge. So if they are public knowledge, how can having that information exposed, really be a threat. It is a threat because cybercriminals now have a list of names and addresses in one easy to organize document. This makes it easier for them to carry out attacks, especially if they notice your name on the customer list multiple times.
For example, having your name, address, and purchase history, they may conclude you are a small business and find out what state you have your business in. After having that information they can attempt a Business Identity Theft attack against your small business. This could include things like website impersonation, filing a business of the same name in another state and taking out credit in your business name, or by ransoming your trademarks like your business name and logos. Cybercriminals will get creative in order to commit fraud.
So while it is only just addresses of 49 million customers, stolen addresses are more of a risk than they think.
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