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Huge Anonymous data dump that caused Boxing Day panic mostly recycled and old information

The cache included 13,000 passwords and credit card details from Amazon, PlayStation and Xbox —but looks mostly to have been old data

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 30 December 2014 16:04 GMT
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The study found that less than a third of key staff had the skills or technology to address a threat expected to expand over the next three years
The study found that less than a third of key staff had the skills or technology to address a threat expected to expand over the next three years

A huge cache of personal and sensitive data released online on Boxing Day looks mostly to be recycled from old leaks, according to experts.

The group claimed to be affiliated with Anonymous and leaked 13,000 passwords and usernames in the dump. It also contained credit card details from Amazon, PlayStation and Xbox.

A lot of the data in the leak goes back to 2011 and 2012 and very little of it is new, Ken Westin, a senior security analyst at Tripwire, told The Register.

While anyone who suspects they may have been hit by the attack should take the same precautions of changing passwords and watching for suspect activity — that should be routine vigilance to stay safe, rather than any special response to the leak.

Much of the data looked to have been taken from a website called Leakforums.net, which stored stolen logins and passwords. The credit card details also seemed to have been taken from old leaks, he said.

He also said that the didn’t have the usual characteristics of an anonymous attack, despite it being posted from a Twitter account supposedly affiliated with the group.

The Twitter account claimed that the cache had been leaked “for the lulz”, in a now deleted post.

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