Guidance Software hacked claim alerts Secret Service
If appearances are to be believed
By INQUIRER staff: Thursday 22 December 2005, 22:19
A MEMO SEEN by the INQUIRER and which appears to be from the CEO of Guidance Software, John Colbert, purports that credit card numbers and names were extracted from the firm, prompting a security scare.
Guidance Software – motto: The Leader in Computer Forensics and Incident Response Solutions, appears to have sent out a letter to its customers dated December 13th.
We contacted the UK wing of the company early this morning for a comment on the purported memo and were referred to head office, in California. We have contacted California but are still waiting for a response at press time.
The memo seen by the INQ said that on December the 7th last, Guidance discovered a security breach of its electronic records. It, said the memo, quickly investigated the incident and discovered that last month a hacker had penetrated its systems. The memo continues that the database contained something like 3,800 people\’s numbers.
If the memo we have seen is to be believed, it referred the matter to the US Secret Service, which has started its investigations.
Guidance said in the purported memorandum that it will cooperate fully with the relevant authorities. It has deleted all of its customer records, if the memorandum the INQ has seen is to be believed.
\”This event,\” according to the purported memo we saw, is \”extremely troubling\”. But Guidance is confident that the intrusion has been \”terminated\”. The firm is reviewing its procedures. But as the firm hasn\’t got back to us yet, perhaps the memo we\’ve seen is not real at all.