LimeRoad Denied the Data Leak of 1.29 MN Customer but Confirmed by Us-Based Cybersecurity Firm Cyble
Early July 2020 saw US-based cybersecurity firm Cyble add LimeRoad to their database of breaches. Cyble claims to have discovered the details of nearly 1.3 million of LimeRoad’s clients being sold on the dark web, as a result of what could only have been some sort of data breach or data leak.
For their part, LimeRoad vehemently denied that such a breach has ever occurred, and called the by that point widely reported allegations “baseless”. As they put it, the initial snippet of information that the cybersecurity firm put out there was inconclusive, and when they tried to contact Cyble in order to verify the situation, communication broke down. “We have not received any further data,” and as a result, their statement was that “we have no reason to believe these numbers belong to any of our customers”.
Essentially, one party claims that the other has been breached, and the other denies it. It’s a classic, “he said, she said” situation, which is uncomfortable for all parties. On one side, Cyble’s reputation is on the line – they run services such as AmIBreached and have a vested interest in maintaining a good track record on the subject. On the other hand, LimeRoad’s brand is at risk – having a data breach now could compromise their sales, which is not something they’d want to suffer right now, what with online shoppers re-orienting themselves toward the Indian market and buying more online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Suffice it to say that they’d prefer if the news didn’t make that much of a splash, regardless of whether or not it is actually true or not.
Then there’s the average consumer in general, and LimeRoad’s customers in particular, and the predicament they find themselves in. On the one hand, if your details get leaked on the dark web, you could be in a lot of trouble, so it’s only natural that you’d promptly take steps to ensure your online safety. This must inevitably include tedious and time-consuming tasks such as changing passwords and contact addresses, making sure that your bank accounts that were linked with the platform are secure, etc. On the other hand, regular users can’t just afford to waste time and effort required to do this sort of thing on a whim, every time there’s a rumor of a data breach. And, as far as facts are concerned, as of the writing of this article, there’s no incontrovertible evidence that the breach happened. Only allegations, claims, and poor communication.
What to do to Avoid Suffering From a Data Breach?
By this point, it’s become painfully clear that there’s not a lot you can do to avoid your details being leaked online if you plan on using the Internet on a regular basis. There’s no guarantee that it’s going to happen to you, but there’s very little you can do to prevent it. What you can do, is establish a system that ensures that even if some information about you is leaked, malicious actors can’t take advantage of it. Here’s how you do that.
- Enable two-factor authentication. This drastically increases the security of your accounts.
- Monitor your account activity. Take active measures if you notice anything untoward.
- Change your passwords regularly, and make them good. Invest in a password manager if you can’t be bothered with that.
