14 DAY TRIAL // Following a ransomware attack in February, popular fashion and retailer Guess made customers aware of a data breach that occurred after the cyberattack, according to Techtwiddle.
On June 3, 2021, the fashion shop completed a comprehensive analysis of the documents stored on the hacked systems and was able to identify the addresses of all those affected. Beginning June 9, Guess began sending notification letters to affected customers, offering them free identity intrusion security solutions and one year of free credit monitoring by Experian.
Passport numbers, financial account numbers, driver's license numbers, and even Social Security numbers were stolen. According to the company, approximately 200GB of data was affected. This is not surprising, considering that Guess operates more than 1,250 company-owned and independent retail locations across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
DarkSide is said to be behind the ransomware attack
The identity of the threat actor behind the ransomware attack were never disclosed by Guess. DataBreaches.Net revealed in a post from three months ago that cybercriminal organization DarkSide posted the stolen information on its website. During the previous year, DarkSide launched a series of assaults against business networks, demanding ransoms in exchange for decrypting and restoring the data that had been wiped from the victims' servers.
The cybercriminal group was successful in hacking Colonial Pipeline in May, and as a result of the fallout from the attack, they received unwelcome attention from the U.S. government. The fact that there were oil shortages East Coast prompted the American government to take immediate and more stringent measures in strengthening cyber defenses. They even go so far as to say that they will give ransomware attacks a similar priority as terrorism.
After the massive pressure applied by the country, DarkSide said they didn't expect to do so much damage, and they subsequently announced the disbanding of their hacking group.