Hackers taget toy maker VTech, make off with customer data

Hackers made their way into VTech's Learning Lodge app store customer database, according to the company. As many as 4.8 million parents—and 200,000 kids–may have been affected.

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VTech, a company perhaps best known for its educational toys, was the target of a successful data breach, the company confirmed on Saturday. 

According to a statement published on VTech’s site, hackers made their way into the user database for the company’s Learning Lodge—an app store of sorts specifically for VTech’s educational toys—and made off with names, email addresses, mailing addresses, encrypted passwords, and responses to those “secret” questions you have to answer in case you forget your password. Hackers also absconded with users' IP addresses and download histories, according to the company.

VTech says that its database does not contain credit card information, social security numbers, or driver’s license numbers. According to VTech, the breach occurred on November 14th, and the company discovered the breach on the 24th—after a journalist inquired about the cyberattack.

The company isn’t saying how many people may have been affected by the breach, butMotherboard reports that hackers made off with information on more than 4.8 million users.

In addition, the leaked data “includes the first names, genders, and birthdays” for over 200,000 children, according to Motherboard. That report also states that “it’s possible to link the children to their parents, exposing the kids’ full identities and where they live.”

Yikes. 

For the time being, VTech has closed the Learning Lodge store as it works to bolster the site’s security, and the company says that it will publish additional information on the breach as needed.