Acxiom Database Hacked Again... And Again... And Again...

from the wonderful dept

Acxiom is one of the nation's largest providers of direct marketing (spam) lists, and the company can't seem to keep its databases safe from hackers. Late last year a man was caught copying one of their databases. Now, in what appears to be a much bigger case, authorities have accused someone of hacking into the database repeatedly over a year and a half to retrieve names and personal info which he then sold for thousands of dollars to spammers. "Information accessed included names, addresses, e-mail addresses, customer demographics, and probably some birth dates and Social Security numbers." They discovered the breach soon after the first case, when they decided (what an idea) that it might make sense to actually check to make sure their databases were secure. And, of course, for those who are already in an Acxiom database and worried about the implications and would like out of their database, remember that they make it as difficult as possible to "opt out."