Good guy Logic Supply resolves breach in days, unlike some companies

US-based industrial computer supplier Logic Supply has reset user passwords following a suspected security breach.

Unauthorised access through the firm's website on 6 February may have exposed customer/company names, usernames and passwords, and order information. Payment card details were not exposed, Logic Supply reassured customers in a breach notification email (extract below) forwarded to El Reg.

Yesterday we discovered unauthorised access to our website, which made some customer information vulnerable. Once we discovered the breach, we blocked their access, deployed a security patch and took other security measures. We believe the vulnerability and access was for roughly 30 minutes. There were no breaches of any of our other internal applications, resources or ERP system.

In stark contrast to well publicised retail breaches, no credit card or other financial information was involved in the attack. (We do not keep credit card numbers on file.) Additionally, because the breach was limited to our website, the breach did not involve any customer software imaged onto our PCs or other proprietary product information.

Security breaches are increasingly becoming an everyday threat for business. A component of managing the problem involves accepting the possibility that breaches might occur even after putting well thought-out defences in place. Detecting breaches quickly before much harm is caused is therefore important. Having an incident response plan in place so that customers can be notified promptly is also highly desirable. Logic Supply ought therefore to be credited for getting on top of a security problem within days, in contrast with other firms that take months or in extreme cases years (ahem Yahoo!) to notify customers when something goes wrong.

A representative of Logic Supply confirmed the breach in an email to El Reg that explained its incident response handling.

"We constantly monitor our systems for any signs of incursion, which is why we were able to identify and react to this event in real time," he said. "We took immediate action to block any external access to our systems, identify what information was subject to exposure and protect our customers."

"Only limited information from our website was subject to any exposure and no credit card, payment or other financial information was involved or at risk," he concluded, adding that the password reset was purely a precautionary measure rather than a response to secondary attacks or attempted customer account hijacks. ®