14 DAY TRIAL // A massive database of 200 million contact records was stolen from Apollo following a data breach incident, a predictive prospecting and sales engagement startup.
The leaked information contained names, email addresses, company names, and various other business contact information such as media handles, phone numbers, and job titles.
Apollo's stolen database of records did not contain customer-sensitive information such as banking information, social security numbers, or passwords according to a statement made by a spokesperson.
“We have confirmed that the majority of exposed information came from our publicly gathered prospect database, which could include name, email address, company names, and other business contact information,” said an e-mail announcing customers about the security incident.
“Some client-imported data was also accessed without authorization,” Apollo said without specifying the exact type of data they referred to according to the e-mail obtained by TechCrunch.
Apollo says no customer passwords, financial data or social security numbers were leaked in the data breach
Apollo's CEO Tim Zheng told TechCrunch that all customers had been contacted following the company's transparency values, but he refused to answer any other questions regarding the data breach.
At the moment it is not precisely clear if Apollo informed US or EU authorities regarding the data theft event the company experienced, but it's certain that EU watchdogs will most likely impose sanctions if the startup failed to follow General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations to the letter,
If what Apollo says about the database not containing financial data and social security info is true, this data breach's severity level shouldn't go above a medium level.
However, considering the number of records, the attackers ran off with, and the increasing danger of potential phishing attacks for both individuals and businesses, Apollo's data theft episode might have severe repercussions in the future.