Stock brokerage app Robinhood said Nov. 8 it experienced a data breach affecting the personal information of millions of customers. All told, more than 7 million people had some kind of data exposed during the attack, which took place on Nov. 3, the company said in a blog post.
The firm said the hacker “socially engineered a customer support employee by phone and obtained access to certain customer support systems” and later tried to extract a ransom from the company. No social security numbers, bank account numbers, or debit card numbers were taken, it added. (Robinhood uses data aggregator Plaid to connect to users bank accounts.)
Here’s the breakdown of the exposed data:
Robinhood said it reported the breach to law enforcement, and that it’s launching its own investigation with third-party security firm Mandiant.
Hacking has been a lucrative business during the pandemic. While the cost of being hacked had been pretty stable up until 2020, during the pandemic it increased by 15%.