By press release on Monday, November 14, 2016, adult website operator Friend Finder Network, Inc. (FFN) confirmed it was addressing “a security incident involving certain customer usernames, passwords and email addresses.” Among FNN’s adult websites are AdultFriendFinder.com, cam.com and Penthouse.com. Subsequent reports by various sources peg the number of compromised accounts at over 400 million across several of FFN’s websites, placing it second behind only Yahoo’s announced breach earlier this year of over 500 million accounts. The purloined FFN customer data apparently dates back as much as 20 years, and may include personally sensitive information such as dates of last visit and site membership status. The FFN hack comes on the heels of last year’s incursion into Life Media, Inc.’s Ashley Madison site. Additional facts concerning the FFN hack can be found on numerous news and industry online publications. The corollary to Billie Dawn’s proclamation “Never do nothing you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of The New York Times” is never frequent any website unless you are prepared to explain it to the public. And your mother.
Check out our series, Privacy Perils, to learn what steps you can take to guard your personal and company data. For more information about this topic and other cyber security concerns, please contact a member of our Privacy & Data Security team.