The database also included information on kids including names, genders and birthdates.
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An unauthorized party accessed VTech customer data housed on our Learning Lodge app store database on November 14, 2015 HKT. VTech said it couldn’t confirm that images were leaked, but Motherboard published partially obscured images that it said it obtained from the hacker.
The hackers gained access to customers’ profiles, which include their names, passwords, email and mailing addresses and IP address, in addition some personal information, including the name and ages of children.
After working closely with Motherboard, Australian security specialist Troy Hunt wrote a blog post on Saturday, explaining that Vtech had very poor security protocols in place.
The digital toymaker VTech on Tuesday said that the data of over 6.3 million children was exposed in a hack that also compromised nearly 5 million parent accounts. VTech customers should also keep an eye out for so-called phishing attacks, or email that appears to be from a trusted source and that asks for personal information or directs recipients to log into bogus sites.
Customers affected by the database breach include those residing in the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Australia, and New Zealand, the company says.
In total about five million customer accounts and 200,000 related child profiles worldwide were affected, including about 18,000 Australian parents and children.
As a “precautionary measure”, VTech has suspended Learning Lodge and 13 other websites pending a “thorough security assessment and fortification”. Tech Insider reached out to VTech for comment and will update the story as soon as we hear back.
The company noted that its customer database does not contain any credit card information or personal identification information such as social security number or driver’s license number.
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The hacker, whose identity was not revealed, said he or she was able to collect conversations and headshots from the company’s Kid Connect service, which allows parents and kids to chat via a smartphone app and VTech tablet.
