Deloitte Email Breach & Broken Trust

US ProTech has learned that “Windham” is the Code Name to an internal scandal at Deloitte that appears to have exposed its largest client’s cybersecurity plans and private data. 

Exclusive: hackers may have accessed usernames, passwords, and personal details of top accountancy firm’s blue-chip clients

As reported in the UK today, one of the world’s “big four” accountancy firms has been targeted by a sophisticated hack that compromised the confidential emails and plans of some of its blue-chip clients, causing an outbreak of concern by businesses around the globe. Deloitte, which is registered in London and has its global headquarters in New York, was the victim of a cybersecurity attack that went unnoticed for months.

One of the largest private firms in the US, which reported a record $37 billion revenue last year, Deloitte provides auditing, tax consultancy, and high-end cybersecurity advice to some of the world’s biggest banks, multinational companies, media enterprises, pharmaceutical firms, and government agencies.

 The Guardian understands Deloitte clients across all of these sectors had material in the company email system that was breached. The companies include household names as well as US government departments. So far, six of Deloitte’s clients have been told their information was “impacted” by the hack. Deloitte’s internal review of the incident is ongoing.

The Guardian understands Deloitte discovered the hack in March this year, but it is believed the attackers may have had access to its systems since October or November 2016. The hacker compromised the firm’s global email server through an “administrator’s account” that, in theory, gave them privileged, unrestricted “access to all areas”.

The account required only a single password and did not have a “two-step” verification, sources said. “Worse still is that the forensic capability at Deloitte is far less adequate than the minimum essential standards of other competitors,” says Goetsch, the CEO of US ProTech an 18-year veteran of Cybersecurity services and software development based in Las Vegas Nevada.

Emails to and from Deloitte’s 244,000 staff were stored in the Azure cloud service, which was provided by Microsoft. This is Microsoft’s equivalent to Amazon Web Service and Google’s Cloud Platform.

In addition to emails, the story suggests the hackers had potential access to usernames, passwords, IP addresses, architectural diagrams for businesses, and health information. Some emails had attachments with sensitive security and design details. The breach is believed to have been US-focused and was regarded as so sensitive that only a handful of Deloitte’s most senior partners and lawyers were informed.

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