Monster.com latest victim of hackers...

If you have given your information to Monster.com -your identity could soon be in the hands of another monster -the identity thief monster.

Monster.com, a leading U.S. based resume search service, was the
recent victim of a computer hack which impacts as many as
1,600,000 people according to the security firm Symantec.

According to the story reported by the Out-Law blog, hackers
used a Trojan Horse to access Monster.com by impersonating
an employer.

The employers' section of the recruitment website has been broken into by a program which then harvested 1.6 million pieces of information and stored them somewhere the people behind the hack could access them, according to security firm Symantec.

Some Monster users have received emails pretending to be from Monster which encourage them to download software they say is a recruitment tool. It is in fact malicious software which encrypts the information on their computers and demands a ransom for it to be unlocked. For more info click here

As usual ,when a data breach occurs, the first statements filtered out of any company who finds they've become a victim and had a serious data breach, is to be the calm voice of reason. "We are not aware of any cases of identity theft. In fact, the information that is gathered from Monster is no different than that displayed in a phone book," said Patrick Manzo, vice president of fraud prevention and compliance at Monster.

That may be true, but I have to ask, what would be the purpose to hack into a computer and steal sensitive data if the intent wasn't to use the data? The information stolen can be used at any date and time in the future and often you are unaware your information has accessed or used fraudulently for credit, employment, medical services, etc., until far too late to rectify easily.

The information stolen is often recycled to multiple thieves who are all too ready to pay a few bucks for a tidbit of information that can be turned into gold. Monster was visited by a real monster -one that you don't want visiting you! Being proactive now can save you a lot of time, money and frustrations -later.

Make sure to tell your family and friends of this mega size data breach which has the potential to affect many innocent and unsuspecting consumers. Remember -your time is valuable and if you do not take steps to protect yourself now -you may find yourself spending a lot of valuable time, energy and money, cleaning up the mess someone else dropped into your life.