PBS has suffered an information breach exposing the company contact data of its workers and people of its associates, BleepingComputer has realized.
Earlier this month, BleepingComputer was alerted to a file circulated on Discord servers that allegedly contained this data.
This knowledge was not distributed on darkish websites, hacking boards, or different mediums frequented by risk actors. As an alternative, it was being shared on Discord servers for followers of “PBS Youngsters,” the place younger adults, youngsters, and youthful children can speak concerning the favourite exhibits they grew up watching.
“The younger adults, youngsters, and youngsters sharing it appear to be doing it extra out of a way of novelty, rebellious curiosity, or just to realize a little bit of notoriety inside their peer teams,” BleepingComputer was informed.
“It is much less about exploiting the info for monetary acquire and extra concerning the ‘cool issue’ of possessing it.”
“That being mentioned, the potential for misuse is clearly there.”
BleepingComputer obtained the file and might verify it consists of the company contact data for 3,997 PBS workers and associates.
Every file within the JSON file accommodates an worker’s identify, company e mail, title, timezone, division, location, job features, hobbies, and their supervisor’s identify.
After contacting PBS concerning the breach, the corporate confirmed that it was stolen from an inner service used for public tv workers.
“After being notified {that a} file containing consumer knowledge from MyPBS.org, an inner service for public tv workers was posted on-line, we launched a radical investigation of the incident, which is ongoing,” a PBS spokesperson informed BleepingComputer.
“We have now reached out to the customers whose data was recognized as concerned to tell them of this incident and presently, there isn’t any proof that this incident includes every other PBS programs.”
BleepingComputer has not realized of any malicious use of the info, but it surely continues to flow into amongst Discord communities as just lately as this weekend.
The supply who shared the info with BleepingComputer says they’re involved that the stolen knowledge may draw undesirable consideration to those communities which are designed merely for followers to speak about a few of their favourite exhibits.
Whereas the breach seems to have originated extra from curiosity than prison intent, the publicity of worker knowledge, notably amid ongoing political scrutiny of PBS and NPR, raises issues about how the knowledge could possibly be misused for harassment or doxxing.
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