Yet Another Data Breach – LivingSocial Gets Hacked

LivingSocial certainly didn’t have the best week this week after a massive data breach occurred last Friday, revealing the names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and birth dates of more than 50 millions users. I imagine that while the company is certainly thinking about how to move forward after this type of public transgression, it is also trying to figure out where things went wrong.

This leads me, once again, to stress that in addition to using a driver that encrypts passwords that are sent across a network, you must also ensure that your database offers an encryption option. If you only use one or the other, a data breach such as the one at LivingSocial may not be far out of the realm of possibilities. It’s only when you employ both simultaneously that you can – with confidence – be sure that your customers’ data is secure.

Progress DataDirect drivers not only encrypt all user passwords across your network, but also support Kerberos authentication. This bolsters system security, eliminates the need for users to log in separately for each account and reduces the possibility of a data breach. Let LivingSocial be a cautionary tale, and encrypt your data moving forward!