Disney Email Database Hacked, Guest Information Compromised

In the second breach of personal data by a major corporation involving my own personal information, Disney Destinations, LLC, the division of Disney that handles all the booking and reservations at all the Disney parks around the world, announced the email database of their email provider had been compromised. It was only days ago I was informed my personal information was compromised by grocery chain Ralphs in another hacker attack targeting their loyalty program members.

At 5 AM on Sunday April 3, I received an email from Disney Destinations informing me of the breach and that my personal information was compromised. The email indicates only my email address was compromised, but if a database was stolen, the database would normally include my name and all the other personal information that Disney may have had for me together with my email.

The Disney Destinations email informs guests that the email database of their email provider, Epsilon was hacked or as they say it in corporate-speak, my email address was "exposed by an unauthorized entry into that provider's computer system ". They don't say the size of the breach, but this is the division of Disney that handles all the reservations at all the Disney parks and all the guest information. Disney Destinations also deals with the travel industry, promoting travel to the various Disney resorts and parks.

This seems to be part of a much larger breach at Epsilon, also involving their other clients Best Buy, Tivo and Walgreens, according to a report by the Associated Press.

I've been to Disney Parks many times, but not in at least ten years. I provided my email last year as part of a promotion with American Express. As the email refers to guests, I can assume it involves their promotional mailing list recipients like myself, as well as guests who actually visited or stayed at the park. While they only had my name and email address, the email informs guests no other information was taken. I can imagine had I been a guest at the park and given them my address, credit card information and other personal financial details, I would be far more concerned, but these breaches scare me, as this could have occurred with a company that had all that data, like my pharmacy or phone provider.

The Disney email alerts that we may receive "spam email messages, emails that contain links containing computer viruses or other types of computer malware, or emails that seek to deceive you into providing personal or credit card information " and warns readers to be careful opening them, which is good advice anytime.

Associated Press "Security Breach Widens at Retailers, Others" Wyoming Tribune Eagle via wyomingnews.com

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