US space tech firm Maxar says employee personal data leaked in hack
- Maxar notifies California Attorney General of data breach
- It says sensitive employee data was stolen in the attack
- The attacker used a Hong Kong address to breach the systems
Maxar Space Systems has reported suffering a data breach in which it lost sensitive employee data.
Confirming the breach in a filing with the California Attorney General, as well as in a breach notification letter sent to affected individuals, the company revealed an unidentified threat actor accessed its systems early in October 2024.
The hacker, who allegedly used a Hong Kong-based IP address for the intrusion, accessed a single host on an external network. They were never connected to Maxar’s internal network, a spokesperson confirmed to TechRadar Pro.
The attack was spotted on October 11, and quickly resolved.
Hidden Risk
Before being expelled, the crooks managed to steal sensitive information on a yet undisclosed number of Maxar employees, including people’s names, postal addresses, Social Security Number (SSN), business contact information (business phone, location, business email, and other data), gender, employment status, employee number, job title, hire date, role start date, and in some cases – termination date, supervisor, and department information.
This is more than enough information to run all kinds of cyberattacks, from phishing, to identity theft, and possibly even ransomware and wire fraud. Luckily, bank account information and birth dates were not exposed.
Maxar said it notified the police, and offered both current and former employees a year’s worth of identity theft protection and credit monitoring via IDShield and IDX. “We strongly encourage you to report incidents of suspected identity theft to law enforcement,” the company added.
The affected company is a division of Maxar Technologies, specializing in the design, manufacturing, and integration of advanced satellite systems and space-based solutions for commercial and governmental applications.
It has roughly 1,300 employees.
Maxar Technologies, on the other hand, is a major space technology and intelligence company that provides geospatial data, satellite imagery, and advanced analytics to support industries such as defense, intelligence, and commercial sectors. This sector was not breached.
Via TechCrunch
Nov 20 Edit – Added a clarification from Maxar’s spokesperson that the attackers did not dwell for a week, and that the affected company counts 1,300 employees without government security clearances.
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