Front Rush Data Breach Exposes Student-Athletes’ Data
The 2020 year has kicked off with a number of high-profile data breaches that have affected a wide variety of industries. The recently announced Front Rush data breach affecting student-athletes is just another in a long line of attacks that have targeted businesses and their customers.
Front Rush, a tech company whose recruiting software connects colleges, universities and sports teams with up-and-coming student-athletes, suffered a data breach that compromised around 700,000 students’ profiles. The Front Rush data breach was the result of an unsecured Amazon Web Services online storage system, which is another in an ever-increasing number of accidental overexposures that lay out companies’ databases to anyone who looks for them on the web.
This time the exposed victim records included minors, and due to the nature of the information collected, it included SAT scores and grades, medical files and financial aid agreements.
The storage bucket has been taken offline, but there is no way of knowing if anyone accessed the information before Front Rush became aware of the issue. A security researcher discovered the exposed bucket and contacted Front Rush, but they did not receive a reply. The researcher then reached out to the media so that victims’ might be made aware.
Incidents like the Front Rush data breach may be on the rise, but they are also avoidable. By default, the web storage bucket is set to “non-password protected,” and it is up to the client to lock it down and put a password in place. Users who fail to do so are literally leaving their entire database available to anyone on the internet.
The consumers whose information goes into these unsecured storage systems do not have much they can do to prevent these things from happening. That is why it’s very important to monitor your accounts closely, change your passwords frequently (in case someone stumbles on old information online) and be on the lookout for spam email and phishing attempts that come from these kinds of breaches.
If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, you can call the Identity Theft Resource Center toll free at 888.400.5530 to speak with one of our advisors or live-chat with an advisor on our website. They will help you create an action plan for your case while directing you on the next steps you need to take.
For on-the-go identity assistance, check out the free ID Theft Help App from ITRC.
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