Deloitte, the 6th largest privately-owned firm in the U.S. has made it to the headlines for falling prey to the cybersecurity breaches, which have been quite recurring of late. Reportedly, the attack dates back to October 2016 which, however, was discovered by the firm in March this year. Sources cite that the attack was primarily focused on the U.S. and compromised the confidential data of some of the company’s blue-chip clients.
For the records, Deloitte, a U.K. based company with headquarters in New York is listed as the world’s ‘big four’ accountancy firms and provides tax consulting, auditing, and ‘cybersecurity’ advice to the international conglomerates, media firms, financial institutes, pharmaceutical companies, and government agencies.
The attack comes as a huge embarrassment for Deloitte which itself is one of the leading providers of ‘cybersecurity services’ to some of the most renowned companies across myriad sectors. Though the number of hacking victims has been referred to as ‘small’ by the company, there are no testimonies of the actual data. Reportedly, the clients span the household names as well as the US government divisions.
As quoted by The Guardian, there were an approximate of 5m emails in the cloud that could have been vulnerable to the attack. However, the accountancy firm emphasized on the emails falling under the risk category to be a very ‘small’ fraction of this number. There was no elaboration on the actual numbers of emails at risk.
The company as a part of its response to the cyberattack has implemented a comprehensive security protocol. Deloitte further reassured that no major impact has been made on the client’s businesses or the company’s vision and capability to serve its consumers and patrons.
Another name which became a grave victim to cyberattacks was Equifax, the U.S. based consumer credit reporting agency. The company lost personal data of close to 143 million U.S. customers in the sophisticated hack, which occurred in May. Allegedly, the company was also listed under the breach victims of the cyberattack, which took place in March.
The attack, reportedly, will have a strong impact on Deloitte’s positioning as a global cybersecurity market player. For the records, the company was awarded with the title of ‘world’s best cybersecurity consultant’ in 2012. It is yet to be revealed if business competitors, state-subsidized hackers, or solitary entity were behind the attack.