Dropbox Suffers Data Breach, Affecting Hundreds of Files

Over the last few years, GitHub breaches have become more common. Everything from international car companies to file storing databases like Dropbox are affected.

How Did the Attack Occur?

The breach resulted from a phishing attack in which specific employee credentials were stolen and used to access Dropbox's GitHub. According to Bleeping Computer, the breach "resulted from a phishing attack that targeted multiple Dropbox employees using emails impersonating the CircleCI continuous integration and delivery platform and redirecting them to a phishing landing page where they were asked to enter their GitHub username and password." After this, the hacker used the login credentials

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?

"To date, our investigation has found that the code accessed by this threat actor contained some credentials—primarily, API keys—used by Dropbox developers," Dropbox posted on its blog. "At no point did this threat actor have access to the contents of anyone's Dropbox account, their password, or their payment information." Unfortunately, the code was surrounded by a few thousand email addresses and names of current and former Dropbox customers, employees, vendors, and sales leads. Dropbox has over 700 million registered users, so the size of the data breach is a mercy for the company.

How Did Dropbox Admit to the Breach?

Dropbox admitted to the breach –to which it was alerted on October 14th, 2022– by posting notifications on its website on November 1st, 2022. The report contained a synopsis of the breach and what Dropbox is doing about it. It also assures customers that no alarmingly personal data appeared to be a part of the breach, only names, and emails.

What Will Become of the Stolen Information?

What is most likely to come out of this is another round of phishing attacks, only this time, it will be far more upscale and targeted. An affected individual might receive an email that uses their name and is worded very personably, thus victimizing them further. An example of this would be an email that read, "Hey, Jonah! This is Maxine from your doctor's office. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for a survey we're doing. It should only take a few seconds of your time, and I assure you your information will remain confidential." This seems personal, and while Jonah might not directly remember Maxine, it's possible there was a nurse or secretary he didn't familiarize himself with, and she may be called Maxine. Of course, he has the time to answer a few health questions for this lovely lady who took the time to contact him directly. And boom, he's a phishing victim.

What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?

In the aftermath of the breach, we ask you to take the same precautions we do. Download device-protecting software, monitor your credit scores and reports to be safe, and keep yourself safe in the real world, too. Your day-to-day safety is just as, if not more important, than your online safety.