Dell Data Breach Affects 49 Million Customers

Dell recently announced its investigation into a data breach exposing the personal information of more than 49 million customers. If you have purchased a Dell product in the past seven years, your information is likely exposed on the dark web. 

According to Bitdefender, Dell began emailing those affected on Wednesday, May 8, confirming that a portal containing the information had been breached and announcing the company’s investigation into the issue. The breach involved the following information:

  • Name
  • Home address
  • Dell hardware and order information, including service tag, item description, date of order, and related warranty information

Below is an image of the email announcement Dell released on Wednesday. 

dell data breach notification

(Source: Forbes)

The Potential Risks

As pointed out in the email, the stolen information does not include highly sensitive financial or contact information such as credit card information, phone numbers, or email addresses. Because of this, Dell does not believe there is a significant risk to the customers affected.

While it’s true that the stolen information doesn’t include highly sensitive financial or contact details, the leaked data still poses a significant risk. The scammers can exploit this information, particularly the system and hardware data, to gain the trust of Dell customers and manipulate them into revealing more sensitive information, downloading malware, or even transferring money. 

Scammers can use names and physical addresses to mail phishing letters with harmful packages. Bleeping Computer reported on the data breach and provided two strong examples of convincing phishing attempts involving malware-loaded devices made with minimal information about the targets.

How Did This Data Breach Happen?

Dell has not confirmed the cause of the data breach. However, Daily Dark Web recently reported an individual attempting to sell 49 million customer records from Dell on the popular hacking forum BreachForums. The individual claimed to have purchased this information from Dell. The individual also claimed that these records are up to date and involve Dell customers from 2017 to 2024. 

The company also explained in its email that it is working with authorities and a third-party forensics team to investigate the issue further. Dell also urges its customers to report any suspicious activity to the Dell security team via email and to be mindful of the company’s tips to avoid tech support scams.