Monster.com Hacked, 75M Users at Risk

Monster Inc., the company behind job search site, Monster.com has been hacked. The details of 75 million users could be at risk. Ouch.

Patrick Manzo, SVP and global chief privacy officer of Monster Worldwide said in a statement dated January 23 that the company’s database had been hacked user data had been obtained, although he did not specify which of the 36 countries the site operates in are affected.

“We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data,” admitted Manzo. “The information accessed does not include resumes. Monster does not generally collect – and the accessed information does not include - sensitive data such as social security numbers or personal financial data,” he assured users.

Mr. Manzo went on to advise users to change their passwords and said they may even be required to do so when logging into the site sometime in the future. Despite this, he said the Monster was encouraging users to “proactively” change their passwords themselves.

The company also warns users that the information obtained could be used against them in phishing scams. Manzo clarified that Monster would never send an unsolicited email asking users to confirm username and password, nor would the site request you download any software, “tool” or “access agreement” in order to use your Monster account.

While it’s all well and good that nothing overly sensitive has been obtained, we’re a little miffed that the company has yet to reveal which countries have been hit. The site has 75 million users worldwide, and if not all countries are affected, it’d be nice to know which of us should be on full alert.