A bank account hacker (Photo : Reuters )
Acer has revealed that their online store has been breached by hackers for over a year now and has revealed the sensitive personal and banking data of more than 34,500 of their customers.
The computer maker has reported to California's Attorney General (AG) that hackers were able to break into their online store. Acer customers who shopped through the online channel may have had their personal and banking data, including the three-digit CVC security code, revealed to the hackers.
Data breaches are becoming more common these days and at a rather alarming rate. Large corporations and even government entities seem to be unsafe from hackers as technology progresses.
Acer did not reveal how the hackers were able to penetrate their servers but they blamed it on an issue with security, PC World has learned. They did confirm that the breach could have started on May 12, 2015 and the sensitive data were siphoned off until April 28, 2016.
The company was honest in admitting that the customer data was stored in an "unsecured format." Hackers were then able to obtain all of the data that could allow them to commit credit card fraud.
One silver lining is that Acer confirmed that the social security numbers of the customers were not at risk, Techno Buffalo reported. Acer said that they did not collect the Social Security numbers in the first place.
Customers who were affected by the data breach has been contacted by Acer through email. The company said that they are already taking the required steps in order to protect their customers and they have also reported the incident with the credit card payment processor to prevent unauthorized charges.
For more than a year, hackers were able to steal the data of more than 34,500 customers on their online store. It seems that their security was way off considering that they did not immediately identify the breach and resolved it quickly as to prevent the hackers from stealing more data over the course of the year.
Acer said that customers can still file police reports regarding the data breach incident. Concerned parties can also contact the company for any inquiries or assistance regarding the matter.
