ADT is a popular home security service designed to monitor and protect from intruders. Ironically, the company has an intruder problem of its own, as hackers have gained access to the company's servers and stolen information about ADT's customers. The information was then posted to a popular hacking forum, causing alarm for the company and people protected by its services.
In a statement to Tom's Guide, an ADP spokesperson explained what happened and the kind of information that was stolen, saying:
"ADT has determined that an unauthorized individual(s) gained access to certain ADT customer information. The company took immediate action; implemented our cybersecurity protocols, increased our alert levels, and began a forensic review of our systems."
Regarding what data was stolen, the representative said, "We can confirm that none of our customers’ home security systems were compromised and no personally sensitive information, credit card data, or banking information was accessed."
That's great news for users, as the repercussions could be far greater if hackers had access to credit card or banking information. Still, the company's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing suggests that customer email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses were stolen.
ADT noted in the filing that the amount of customers affected is "a small percentage of the company’s overall subscriber base" and that it "has notified the customers it believes to have been affected."
The company didn't say how many people were affected. Still, TechCrunch reported that a seller on a cybercrime forum claimed to have around 30,000 customer data records from ADT on July 31. That claim has yet to be verified, but we've contacted ADT for additional comments on the number of customers and will update you if we learn more.
If that number is accurate, it would be a very small percentage of the company's estimated 6 million customers across 200 locations in the United States. Of course, that doesn't soften the blow for those in the 30,000, but other customers can rest easy knowing their information is secure.
