In October, they called it an “outage;” last month, it became a “cybersecurity incident;” now it’s a full-on PII leak.

Mortgage company Mr. Cooper Group has finally ’fessed up to losing the personal info of 14,690,284 people. That’s quite a feat for a firm with “only” 4.3 million customers.

CEO Jay Bray (pictured) says he wants your trust. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we leave him hangin’. [You’re fired—Ed.]

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Animated Lego.

Another Day, Another Huge Leak

What’s the craic? Bill Toulas reports—“Mortgage giant Mr. Cooper data breach affects 14.7 million people”:

“Phishing, scams and social engineering”
A recent cyberattack has exposed the data of 14.7 million customers who have, or previously had, mortgages with … Mr. Cooper (previously Nationstar Mortgage LLC) … a Dallas-based mortgage lending firm that employs approximately 9,000 people. … The lender is one of the largest servicers in the United States, servicing loans of $937 billion.
…
The exposed data puts impacted individuals at risk of phishing, scams, and social engineering attacks, while bank fraud and identity theft are also possible. [Victims] are urged to remain vigilant against unsolicited communications and enroll in the offered 24-month identity protection service. … The information that has been exposed to cybercriminals includes:
Full name,
Home address,
Phone number,
Social security number (SSN),
Date of birth,
Bank account number.

Who is at risk? Jonathan Greig clarifies—“Cyberattack leaked data”:

“Anyone”
Mr. Cooper … says it has more than 4.3 million customers. … In total, 14,690,284 people were affected. … The company is the largest nonbank mortgage servicer in the U.S, providing servicing and originations for homeowners throughout the country.
…
The data accessed may have been from:
Anyone whose mortgage was acquired or serviced by Nationstar Mortgage or Centex Home Equity.
Anyone whose mortgage is or was serviced by a sister brand of Mr. Cooper.
Anyone who Mr. Cooper may be or previously was the servicing partner of your mortgage company.
If you previously applied for a home loan with Mr. Cooper.

Horse’s mouth? Jay Bray is the chairman and CEO of Mr. Cooper Group—“Update on Recent Cyber Incident”:

We take our role as a mortgage company very seriously, and there is nothing more important to us than maintaining our customers’ trust. I want you to know how sorry I am for any concern or frustration this may have caused. Making the homeownership journey as smooth as possible is our top priority, and we intend to make this right for our customers.

None of which impresses this Anonymous Coward:

Cheap words. Your systems got hacked.

Corporate America needs to do better. bumblebees knows how to motivate bosses:

When will people start going to prison? And I’m not talking about the hackers, but the CEOs and … other managers that shrug their shoulders and say they will do better in the future, then skimp even more on security.

Stand by for a credit-monitoring sop. gorbachev sounds slightly sarcastic:

That’s merely to Curry favor. hamburger lady goes back to the 1990s:

I’ve seen this show before. “Hackin’ with Mr. Cooper,” wasn’t it?

Still, silly name is silly—amirite? u/SalSimNS2 remembers:

Meanwhile, Mike Friedman cuts to the chase:

Now we can add *****y security to, “The stupidest name in banking.”

And Finally:

Joel Veitch employs child labor

Previously in And Finally

You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites … so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi, @richij or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do not stare into laser with remaining eye. E&OE. 30.