Hello Kitty Hack Sparks Probe After 3.3 Million Users Affected

By Lorraine Caballero, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, December 22, 2015

A hack into the Hello Kitty fan website has prompted Sanrio to launch an investigation into the incident, especially after a report said 3.3 million users were affected.

Security website CSOonline.com reported that researcher Chris Vickery discovered the Hello Kitty hack. The leak has exposed private users' private information including their full names, encrypted passwords, and their email addresses, according to Reuters.

Based on Vickery's statement to CSO's Salted Hash security blog, the leak involved accounts for Sanriotown.com, hellokitty.com, mymelody.com, and other Sanrio websites. The manner in which the leak was carried out was not detailed, Wired reports.

In a statement, a Sanrio spokeswoman confirmed that the Japanese firm is investigating the alleged Hello Kitty hack. She added that they will release more information to the public once they confirm the details surrounding the leak, the report relays.

Network security firm RSA's General Manager Peter Tran has brought up the possibility that financial information has also been exposed in the Hello Kitty hack. However, Sanrio has not yet confirmed this theory, the report adds.

"It could have been a third party that left them vulnerable to be overwhelmed and breached in the way they are now," Reuters quotes Tran's statement.

The recent Hello Kitty hack has raised concerns on the possibility that minors' data may have been included in the data dump. Virtual criminals can use children's identity to commit fraud, so parents are urged to guard the data security of their children as if it were their own, the report suggests.

As of now, the extent of the breach has yet to be determined by Sanrio. In the wake of the Hello Kitty hack, users of Sanrio's websites are advised to reset their passwords and consider all accounts as compromised whether or not the company has informed them of the leak. Vickery has also warned against reusing the same password from other breached sites.