Home security Provider ADT has suffered a data breach that appears to be linked to the notorious ShinyHunters hacking gang, which is now attempting to extort money from the company.
ADT revealed the breach today, one day after ShinyHunters threatened to filter stolen information. “Over 10 million records containing PII (personally identifiable information) and other internal corporate data have been compromised. Pay or leak,” the group said in a post on the website. dark network.
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ADT did not say how many users were affected. But in a statementThe company said the breach was detected on Monday, April 20, and involves “a limited set of customer and potential customer data.”
“The investigation confirmed that the information involved was limited to names, phone numbers and addresses. In a small percentage of cases, dates of birth and the last four digits of Social Security or tax identification numbers were included. Critically, no payment information was accessed, including bank accounts or credit cards, and customer security systems were not affected or compromised in any way,” the company said.
In response, ADT ended the intrusion, launched a forensic investigation with “leading third-party cybersecurity experts,” and notified authorities. The company says it has also “directly notified all affected individuals and will offer identity protection services as appropriate.”
It is unclear how the hackers gained access. But ShinyHunters has been acquaintance use phone calls in English and impersonations to trick victims, or what is known as voice phishing. This may involve pretending being an IT customer service and manipulating an employee of a target company into giving up internal access.
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ShinyHunters has threatened to leak the stolen data if ADT does not pay the ransom by Monday. Therefore, affected customers should be on guard as the stolen information could expose them to phishing attacks and identity theft schemes.
ADT experienced two other security incidents in 2024.
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Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
Experience
I have been a journalist for more than 15 years. I started as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I currently reside in San Francisco, but previously spent more than five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I have covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing more than 600 stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over expanding satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I scoured the FCC files for the latest news and drove to remote corners of California to test Starlink cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly collecting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint report investigation with motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages took me camping vs. Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. Now I’m tracking how the AI-driven memory shortage is affecting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so hit the comments with your feedback and send me tips.
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