Forbes CEO sends out quick email on data theft

 

Read Forbes CEO's email for handling data break in. It's a good template for all businesses to have ready if unfortunately, ever needed.

As a stakeholder, I appreciate his quick and transparent update and apology:

Dear Forbes.com Member:

Recently, Forbes.com was targeted in a digital attack. Our publishing platform was compromised and email addresses for registered members have been exposed. (Forbes subscribers should note that no credit card information or subscription details were revealed.) We have notified law enforcement and are taking the matter very seriously.

Your Forbes.com password was encrypted in our database, but if you used the same password on other Web sites or accounts, we strongly suggest you change them.

We have currently disabled log-in functionality on Forbes.com and invalidated all passwords. During this time, you will not be able to access your account or add your comments to the site. We will send you a follow-up email when log-in is reopened with simple instructions on how you can reset your password to a different one.

Meanwhile, we urge you to be cautious about interacting with email, especially from senders that are unknown to you, as the list of email addresses may be used in phishing attacks or scams.

All of us at Forbes respect your privacy and apologize to you and all of the members of our community for this breach.

Sincerely,

Mike Perlis
Chief Executive Officer