SECURITY ALERT: Massive Data Leak Revealed the Sensitive Information of Millions of P

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What are the Companies Affected and How You Can Protect Yourself

The web surfing history of millions of people was intercepted yesterday in a huge data leak. Large Swedish companies, such as Volvo, SAS, Ericsson, Husqvarna, and SKF have been affected, as originally reported by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. About 40,000 people involved in the cyber incident allegedly are Swedes.

Spyware in Browser Extensions Enabled the Attack

The data spill was caused due to a spy code installed in Chrome and Firefox add-ons, which allowed the browsing history of millions of users to be harvested and sold.

A part of the leaked data comes from some of the largest organizations in Sweden. The database contained information such as discussions between employees, downloaded files, and internal confidential information. More precisely, it was possible to see exactly what people did online and although the information was considered to be anonymous, their identity could be confirmed.

The Failure of a SpaceX Rocket Engine Was Also Leaked

According to security engineer Sam Jadali, other major international companies have been involved as well. For instance, information from the space company SpaceX regarding the failure of a rocket engine was revealed. The vehicle was used to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

The Company Behind the Data Leak

The information was collected and sold by Nacho Analytics, which is ending its activity now that the leak has been brought to light.

This is the pop-up message that is currently being displayed on their website:

“Nacho Analytics is closing all remaining accounts, and sending refunds to our existing customers for their recent payments. It will take a few days to work through this process. We appreciate your patience. If you are an active customer, please check your email for more detailed information.

Our limited site is active to offer customer support during this transition.”

Browsing habits are a method of studying customer patterns and monitoring competitors. This leak is similar to the one we’ve seen in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which could abuse Facebook data to be used in political campaigns, writes SVT.
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