Samsung is warn customers about a July cybersecurity incident in which “an unauthorized third party obtained information from some of Samsung’s US systems,” including things like names, birthdays, contact details and product registration information. The company says it discovered the breach on August 4 and is currently investigating it with “a leading third-party cybersecurity firm.”
According to the company’s frequently asked questions about the incident, it is sending emails to customers specifically affected, and will continue to do so as the investigation progresses. Samsung says not everyone will have leaked the same information. The company did not immediately respond to: The edge‘s request for comment on which of its systems were specifically affected.
While the company says it didn’t take social security numbers or debit/credit card numbers, the kind of information the hackers ended up getting could be very useful in social engineering attacks on other services you use. If you’ve been putting off activating two-factor authentication for some important accounts, it’s probably not a bad idea to get it done as soon as possible.
Samsung says you don’t need to change your password or take any specific steps to keep your Samsung products or accounts safe at this time, as “consumer devices have not been affected in connection with this incident”. However, the company recommends that you keep an eye on any unusual activity on your account and be extra vigilant when it comes to phishing emails.
