FCCC: Data breach may extend to Fiji; public urged to secure online accounts

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The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) has urged members of the public to take necessary steps to secure their online accounts.

The call come in the wake of the recent massive data breach dubbed the ‘Mother of All Breaches’ involving 26 billion records from various popular sites.

“This breach, as per the experts, is one of the biggest leaks in history and has exposed a vast amount of personal data from people worldwide, encompassing personal information, email addresses, passwords, and financial data. The impact of this leak may extend to Fiji as well,” the FCCC said.

Cybersecurity expert Bob Dyachenko of SecurityDiscovery.com, who discovered the leak, noted that the dataset presented a high level of danger, with the potential for threat actors to exploit it in various malicious activities, including identity theft, sophisticated phishing, targeted cyberattacks, and unauthorised access to personal and sensitive accounts.

The FCCC has reminded members of the public not to take the breach lightly, “as it could pose a serious threat to your privacy and security”.

It stated the exposed information could be exploited for identity theft, phishing scams, and financial fraud.

What you should do:

  1. Check Your Data: Use tools like [Have I Been Pwned] (https://haveibeenpwned.com/) and (Cybernews’ Personal Data Leak Checker) (https://cybernews.com/) to see if your personal information has been compromised in this or any other breach;
  2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): For all online accounts, especially those containing sensitive personal or financial information, enable 2FA. This adds an extra layer of security beyond just a password;
  3. Update passwords: If your data has been compromised or if you are using the same password across multiple sites, change your passwords immediately. Use strong, unique passwords for each account with a combination of letters, numbers and symbols;
  4. Regular monitoring: Regularly monitor your accounts for any unusual activity and report any suspicious behaviour immediately to your service provider or ICT support; and
  5. Stay informed and cautious: New cyber threats emerge daily. Staying informed about the latest online threats and being cautious about sharing personal information online, is critical.

Source: FCCC