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Employer-employee relationships don’t always end well. Terminations, even rightful ones, leave a bad taste in the recipient's mouth — in some cases, so much so that the former employee decides to go on a revenge mission. This situation is what got Cash App hacked in 2021.
Insider threats can cause some of the worst security breaches an organization could ever experience. Though in this case, the former employee had already left the company when they illegally downloaded customer data.
How Big Was the Breach?
Reports indicate the Cash App data breach affected over 8 million users in the U.S. A Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also shows that the former employee accessed customer data, including:
- Full names
- Stock trading activity
- Brokerage account numbers
- Brokerage portfolio values
This data is enough to cause considerable damage from fraud and identity theft. Luckily, it didn’t include additional personally identifiable information, such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses.
How Did It Happen?
In December 2021, a former Cash App employee accessed and downloaded reports containing customer information.
In 2023, Cash App again fell victim to a data breach. This time, investigations found unauthorized access and transaction attempts on customer accounts from unidentified actors.
Legal documents from the lawsuit filed after the data breaches indicate the second instance occurred because Cash App failed to implement controls to prevent unauthorized access.
Affected customers also received messages that unauthorized users logged into their accounts using recycled phone numbers.
Impact of the Breach
The Cash App breach affected both the company and its customers.
Financial losses
Cash App agreed to a $15 million cash settlement after affected customers took it to court. The payments will go to all customers affected between 2018 and 2024, who will receive up to $2,500 each to cover losses associated with the breach, including lost time, bank fees, credit costs, and travel expenses.
Reputational damage
After the first breach, Cash App received a lot of media coverage from news sites and tech blogs. Many affected customers took their frustrations online, particularly on X. This negative publicity painted Cash App in a bad light.
Legal repercussions
Following the breach, some affected customers filed a class action lawsuit against Cash App and its parent company, Block, Inc. According to the lawsuit, Cash App failed to protect its users from two data breaches, which led to unauthorized withdrawals of customer funds.
Impact on employees
The data breach increased the workload for Cash App employees, who had to deal with increased customer complaints and inform over eight million customers about the hack.
Impact on customers
Affected customers experienced withdrawals and transactions they hadn’t approved. Additionally, many lost time following up with support about the unauthorized actions within their apps.
How to check if you were affected?
Even though the time has passed for making a claim on the payments to affected customers, you can check if the data breach exposed your data at HaveIBeenPwned.
How Did Cash App Solve It?
After the breach occurred, Cash App took several steps to reduce the impact. First, it disclosed the incident upon discovery by filing it with the Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2022. Following the lawsuit, Cash App agreed to pay all affected customers up to $2,500 each in settlements. As part of the settlement, Cash App agreed to strengthen its data security.
It’s worth noting that Cash App has denied any wrongdoing. According to The New York Times, Cash App and Block maintain that while they agreed to a settlement, it doesn’t mean they’re liable for the data breach.
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
The fact that a former employee caused Cash App’s data breach highlights the importance of implementing tight access controls within an organization. Using the principle of least privilege access is one way your organization can prevent such a scenario from occurring.
This security measure gives employees only the level of access they require to complete tasks. It also means that when a person finishes their work or leaves your organization, you revoke all their privileges immediately.
StrongDM's Approach to Preventing Data Breaches
The Cash App breach demonstrates how insider threats and insufficient access controls can lead to significant security failures. StrongDM’s Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution helps organizations prevent similar incidents by:
- Centralized Access Management: Manage and revoke employee access in real-time, ensuring no lingering permissions for former employees.
- Continuous Monitoring: Track user activity across your systems to detect and respond to suspicious behavior immediately.
- Proactive Audit Trails: Maintain detailed logs of all user actions to identify abnormalities before they escalate.
Had StrongDM been in place, Cash App could have minimized the risks posed by insider threats and unauthorized access. Book a demo today to see how StrongDM can help safeguard your data and prevent breaches.
Additional Resources
About the Author
StrongDM Team, Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM), the StrongDM team is building and delivering a Zero Trust Privileged Access Management (PAM), which delivers unparalleled precision in dynamic privileged action control for any type of infrastructure. The frustration-free access stops unsanctioned actions while ensuring continuous compliance.
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