VTech Says 6.4 Million Kids Affected By Recent Hack

In a statement issued today, VTech announced that 6.4 million kids were affected by the data breach disclosed last week. This is the latest update to the hack, which has grown in scope over the last few days. On Friday, VTech had stated that 4.9 million adults were affected by the breach, which targeted the maker's Kid Connect messaging system and Learning Lodge app store.

In its original announcement, VTech had stated its Learning Lodge was compromised; soon after, the company revealed that its Kid Connect messaging app, which is included on the maker's tablets, was also targeted. As a result, audio clips, photos, and chat logs were nabbed, greatly expanding the breach's damage.

According to a past statement from VTech, kids' birthdays, names, genders and similar profile information was compromised. Information on parents was also compromised, with that including IP/email/mailing addresses, names, and more. The majority of affected users are located in the US and parts of Europe.

Breaking the numbers down, 2.2+ million compromised accounts were created in the U.S., while 868k were created in France and 560k were created in the United Kingdom. This is believed to be the largest hack involving data belonging to children. It is expected VTech will be subjected to government scrutiny in relation to its security practices due to the scope of the breach.

SOURCE: Reuters