Partial Backup File Stolen in Typeform Data Breach

Typeform, a Spanish SaaS company that specializes in online forms and surveys, has announced it has experienced a data breach in which a hacker gained access to a backup file. The breach occurred on May 3, 2018 and was detected six weeks later on June 27, 2018. Typeform has confirmed that a backup file was downloaded by the attacker.

Typeform explained in a statement that the backup file only included ‘partial information,’ and all affected customers are being notified individually.

It is unclear what constitutes ‘partial information’, although some companies that use the Barcelona firm have provided more information on the breach. The British retailer Fortnum & Mason has started notifying its customers about the breach, explaining that “approximately 23,000 of our data entries have been affected.” It its case, survey responses along with email addresses, postal addresses, social handles, and a limited number of contacts have been exposed.

Thriva, HackUPC, Ocean Protocol, Birdseye, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, and payment provider Monzo have all confirmed that they have been impacted by the breach. Monzo has said around 20,000 of its customers have been impacted by the breach.

In most cases the exposed information was limited to email addresses and demographic information, although the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said that individuals who registered for an ‘express vote’ in the recent general elections have had their employer name, date of birth, and salary range compromised in addition to names, addresses, email addresses, and publicly available information.

Typeform said it has identified the source of the breach and is taking significant measures to secure its files and prevent future data breaches from occurring. Access to the backup files was gained through the exploitation of a vulnerability, which has now been addressed.

While the types of data compromised vary for each customer, Typeform said payment data collected through its Stripe integration remains secure.

Author: Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of NetSec.news