Robinhood ‘victim’ of blackmail – 5 million user emails were exposed

Robinhood Markets revealed Monday afternoon that an unauthorized person had gained access to the personal information of nearly 25% of its 20 million users, in a move that is one of the biggest security breaches ever suffered by the popular online brokerage firm.

In a post on its blog late Monday afternoon, Robinhood reported that an unauthorized third party, using its “social engineering” practice, manipulated an employee of the customer support department over the phone on the night of November 3, and gained access to the support systems. of its customers.

The California-based brokerage firm Menlo Park did not provide further details on how the “intruder” manipulated the customer support officer, but said he had reason to believe that the person had obtained a list of email addresses. about 5 million users and the full names of about 2 million people.

He added that the “intruder” had access to additional information – including names, dates of birth and postal codes – of about 310 people, and that for about 10 of its customers “more details of their accounts were revealed”.

Robinhood, which did not immediately respond to a request from Forbes for comment, also revealed that the unauthorized person blackmailed her into asking for a “ransom” after the company reduced the “invasion”, while noting that it “immediately” informed the law enforcement authorities. law on the incident.

The brokerage company also said that it has started the process of informing the clients who have been exposed to their details, noting, however, that it believes that social security numbers, bank account numbers or debit card numbers have not been leaked.

Robinhood’s share fell 4% in Tuesday’s session, “extinguishing” with the above gains of 2.6% recorded by the title in Monday’s trading.

it’s not the first time

Although last Wednesday’s security breach (3/11) is one of the biggest attacks Robinhood has ever received, it is certainly not the first.

Last October, hackers reportedly broke into nearly 2,000 of the brokerage firm’s client accounts by “stealing” money. Robinhood systems, noting that no attacks had been recorded on the company’s internal systems.