[BreachExchange] 1.6 billion LightInTheBox customer records left exposed

[Destry Winant]

https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/data-breach/1-6-billion-lightinthebox-customer-records-left-exposed/

An unsecured database operated by the online retailer LightInTheBox
left 1.3TB of data containing 1.6 billion shopper records exposed for
a three-month period this year.

In what the breach discovers VPNMentor described as a major lapse in
LighInTheBox’s data security and potentially devastating to the
victims exposing them to not only a cyberattack but potentially a
physical confrontation as the data included enough clues to allow a
malicious actor to discover their home address.

LightInTheBox sells apparel, small accessories and gadgets along with
home and garden to customers worldwide. The database was a web server
log containing a history of page requests and user activity that took
place between Aug. 9, 2019 and October 11, 2019 and contained
information such as Users’ IP addresses, countries of residence, email
addresses, destination pages and user activity on the website.
VPNMentor found the database on November 20, contacted the company
four days later and the content was locked down that same day.

VPNMentor said the entire situation could have been avoided if
LightInTheBox had simply secure its servers and implemented proper
access rules.

“The exposed data makes those affected vulnerable to many forms of
fraud and online attacks. With access to user emails, cybercriminals
could create convincing phishing campaigns with emails imitating
LightInTheBox,” said VPNMentor’s Noam Rotem and Ran Locar, noting this
information could enable a criminal to figure out exactly where a
person lives.

“With a website user’s IP address, we were able to identify their city
of residence. If a criminal hacker had access to this, along with the
other data exposed, they could trick a victim into revealing their
home address, and target them for theft and home robbery,” they said.

Rotem and Locar pointed out the fact the data breach is coming to
light during the holiday shopping season leaves LightInTheBox wide
open to having its reputation ruined.