Cybersecurity Firm Breached, Passwords Stolen

Thousands of customers of Norton LifeLock, an identity protection and cybersecurity firm, had their accounts compromised recently. The breach potentially allows hackers access to customer password managers, according to the notice by Gen Digital, the parent company of Norton LifeLock. The attack likely used previously exposed or breached credentials to break into accounts on different sites and services that share the same passwords. Apparently, accounts had been compromised as far back as December 1, about two weeks before systems detected a “large volume” of failed logins to customer accounts on December 12. “In accessing your account with your username and password, the unauthorized third party may have viewed your first name, last name, phone number, and mailing address,” the notice said. It was sent to customers that use its password manager feature because the company cannot rule out that the intruders also accessed customers’ saved passwords.