Parents Warned as Online Hello Kitty User Accounts Breached

Over 3.3million users have been compromised as a hugely popular online community for Hello Kitty has been breached. The data leak was spotted and reported by a security researcher Chris Vickery at the weekend. Parents warned as online Hello Kitty user accounts breached, including both first and last names, email addresses, genders, country of origins and other sensitive details. In addition to these details, it has also been revealed that passwords have been compromised as well, including the security question and answer required for extra protection and alternate access.

The website, SanrioTown.com, which is one of the biggest online communities for Hello Kitty, is not the only Hello Kitty website to have been exposed. Other fan sites such as hellokitty.com, hellokitty.com.sg and mymelody.com have also been affected and their databases released online. Sanrio, the company behind the websites, have not released a statement concerning the data breach. It is yet unknown what or who caused the leak, whether it was a hack or simply carelessness, but either way, a lot of people’s details have now been exposed online.

This data breach is the second of its kind to affect a child-orientated product, as the first happened only a month ago when VTech was targeted for hacking. That particular attack compromised the personal information of millions of customers who used the online app store for the toys. A 21 year old man from England has been arrested in connection to the attacks.

With so many attacks, breaches and data theft occurring at the moment, now is the best time to start protecting yourself online. Even though you can’t necessarily control where or how your data is stored online, you can at least be mindful of what information you do give out. Not only can you not see how secure your data will be, but there is no telling on how the company used it or how they store it. Many companies, both small and large, have been under scrutiny on how their customer’s data has been protected. Until stricter policies come into play, or harsher penalties for failing to protect the data, it is a good idea to control what data you give away.

Sign up to Le VPN for an extra level of security every time you are online. Le VPN allows you to connect to the internet through a secure and encrypted tunnel, preventing anyone from snooping on your online activity.