Customers on the Verizon-owned mobile carrier, Visible, received devastating news last Wednesday. The company confirmed security breaches that compromised customer data. Many hacked accounts had their money stolen, while others received spam emails. Victims of the Verizon data breach are recommended to change their Visible password immediately.
Visible was formerly recognized as one of the best wireless plans available for budget-sensitive users. It is a subsidiary of Verizon, meaning it could make use of resources from one of the most established networks nationwide. This is why the Visible data breach came as a surprise to many.
Visible Data Breach: Hacking Attack Confirmed
According to TechRadar, many Visible registered users complained about weird activities in their accounts. Some received payment charges from the company that reflected on their PayPal and credit card statements, while others received emails saying their account address or password had recently changed. Few very unlucky customers experienced both problems consecutively.
Even worse, Visible did not send out emails or texts about the situation. Most complaints went unheard.
As of Wednesday, Visible released their official explanation of the situation. They confirmed a security breach, saying "threat actors were able to access username/passwords from outside sources, and exploit that information to login to Visible accounts."
Our investigation indicates that threat actors were able to access username/passwords from outside sources, and exploit that information to login to Visible accounts.
— Visible (@Visible) October 13, 2021
The company did not provide any details of the attack, so customers had no idea of the severity of the damage. The total amount stolen and the number of accounts hacked are kept confidential by the company.
Unfortunately, this move also meant there is no way of telling whether Visible has resolved the case or if their data is still being compromised by hackers.
In a situation like this, users are recommended to assume the worse about their data being exploited by malicious actors.
How to Secure an Affected Account: Visible Password Change
Attached to their official announcement on the data breach, Visible recommended customers to change passwords immediately. Visible said the hackers might exploit victims' username and password details to other areas like their linked banks or financial accounts.
Visible also reminded its customers that the company "will never call & ask for your password, secret questions or account PINs." Visible then lined up their customer support page, saying, "if you feel your account has been compromised, please reach out to us via chat."
Protecting customer information -- including securing customer accounts -- is critically important to our company and our customers. If you feel your account has been compromised, please reach out to us via chat at https://t.co/Gcd1X2kGfJ.
— Visible (@Visible) October 13, 2021
Unfortunately, the hacked accounts were not easily resolved. According to TechRadar, users who did try to reset their password received an error message. Also, note that Visible does not support two-factor authentication (2FA), so changing passwords is the only solution to this breach.
For now, victims of the Visible data breach are recommended to change passwords and pins on their other accounts. Any account that might have reused the Visible password should be updated immediately.
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