14 DAY TRIAL // Unauthorized access on Cruise Planners’ servers allowed an unknown entity to reach sensitive information belonging to the travel company.
The intrusion was not detected internally and it was reported on February 2, 2015, by an undisclosed third party.
In most cases, it is a law enforcement agency or a financial institution that announces organizations unaware of a compromise on their systems that a threat actor managed to exfiltrate sensitive details from their infrastructure.
The intelligence is oftentimes picked up from various sources, including cybercriminal forums specialized in trading this sort of information.
Immediately after notification, Cruise Planners initiated an investigation that revealed signs of unauthorized access and malware traces.
“CP Franchising has determined that an unauthorized person gained access to its servers on or about January 30, 2015,” says Tom Kruszewski, company CFO in a letter to the affected individuals.
It appears that at least part of the information was encrypted at the time of the attack, which reduces the risk to the customers. The company does not specify, though, what type of data was protected and the method chosen to secure it.
Kruszewski says that the potentially exposed information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, loyalty program numbers, and dates of birth.
To reduce the risk of fraud, Cruise Planners offers complimentary identity protection services for one year from a specialized company.