Another day, another database filled with consumer information hacked. This time it is the database of the popular singing competition “The X Factor” database has been hacked into, causing 250,000 potential contestants to have had their names, emails, ZIP codes, phone numbers, genders and dates of birth taken.
According to Fox, the network on which the X Factor will be shown, financial information such as credit card info was not accessed - good to see they didn’t take a page out of Sony’s book.
Simon Cowell, the creator has already called the FBI in regards to the situation “Simon Cowell has called in federal experts to track down the hackers behind the mass theft.”
It would appear Cowells latest show has taken a hit for the worst before it even being aired on television. Fox chiefs suspect the information could be used in a large scale phishing scam with the aim of unwittingly conning millions from contestants. Fox warn contestants to be “on their guard” in case any of the information is used negatively. “The X Factor will never ask you to email personal information such as financial data, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or the user name or passwords you use to access other websites” said Fox.
According to the email from Fox to the Daily Star “This week, we learned that computer hackers illegally accessed information you and others submitted to us to receive information about The X Factor auditions. If you receive an email that appears to be from Fox.com or "The X Factor" asking for personal information, please delete it, as it did not come from us.”
This past month we have seen numerous break ins by hackers of large companies, most prominently Sony’s PSN which was cited as the ‘worst PR disaster for years’.