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Report: CBP Says Travelers' Photos Were Stolen In Data Breach

June 10, 2019
•
2 min read
US Customs and Border Protection
Report: CBP Says Travelers' Photos Were Stolen In Data Breach
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Officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said today (June 10) that photos of travelers had been compromised in a "malicious cyber-attack," according to a report from The Washington Post.

According to a statement provided to Buzzfeed News, the agency confirmed "unauthorized" access of CBP data of travelers.

The agency, according to the statement, learned about the breach on May 31 and said that "none of the image data has been identified on the Dark Web or internet." The statement also said that Congress has been notified of the breach.

The agency, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, said in the statement that compromised images included "copies of license plate images and traveler images," but wouldn't say how many people or what images were compromised as part of the breach.

The agency said the breach happened as a result of an attack on a subcontractor that violated CBP policy by transferring copies of the images. It's unclear who that subcontractor is, but the Post reported that a CBP statement reviewed by the newspaper included the name a firm that sells license plate scanners. The agency said that no CBP systems were compromised.

"CBP has removed from service all equipment related to the breach and is closely monitoring all CBP work by the subcontractor," according to the statement given to Buzzfeed. "CBP requires that all contractors and service providers maintain appropriate data integrity and cybersecurity controls and follow all incident response notification and remediation procedures. CBP takes its privacy and cybersecurity responsibilities very seriously and demands all contractors to do the same."

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TPG has reached out to CBP for comment.

Featured image by Getty Images/iStockphoto

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