Crossbow firm discloses data breach: crooks compromised credit card data

Killer Instinct, a company that trades high-tech modern adaptations of the archaic long-range weapon, has disclosed a data breach affecting over 800 users.

The company filed a notification with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, saying threat actors obtained users' financial account or credit/debit card numbers in combination with security, access code, password or PIN for the account.

Killer Instinct, specializing in the crossbow trade, has dozens of shops in the US as well as an online store.

“While the investigation was able to determine the email accounts were accessed, it was unable to determine whether any specific email or attachment within the accounts were actually accessed or acquired by an unknown actor,” Killer Instinct said.

An unauthorized individual accessed email accounts used by a company employee between October 12 and 28 last year.

“Upon discovering the event, Killer Instinct moved quickly to investigate and respond to the incident, assess the security of email accounts, and identify potentially affected individuals,” said the company.

It has also offered free credit monitoring services to those who may have been affected, by way of compensation.

“Killer Instinct is providing access to credit monitoring services for 12 months, through Experian, to individuals whose personal information was potentially affected by this incident, at no cost to these individuals,” the company said.

Consumers are encouraged to stay vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, and to review their credit reports in case of any suspicious activity.

The earliest known crossbows are thought to date back well over two thousand years. Gradually displaced as military weapons by firearms, they remain popular in some hunting and sporting circles today.