The Ghost of Startups Past: How Failed Companies Haunt Their Former Employees
"Startup data breach risk: Former employees vulnerable after company closure."
Matilda
The Ghost of Startups Past: How Failed Companies Haunt Their Former Employees
The demise of a startup can be a traumatic experience for its employees. Job loss, shattered dreams, and financial uncertainty are just the beginning. A new security threat has emerged, lurking in the shadows of these failed ventures: the potential for widespread data theft. Security researcher Dylan Ayrey, CEO of Andreessen Horowitz-backed Truffle Security, has uncovered a critical vulnerability. Former employees of defunct startups are at a heightened risk of having their sensitive personal data stolen, ranging from private Slack messages and Social Security numbers to potentially even bank account information. The Ghost in the Machine: Exploiting "Sign in with Google" Ayrey's research delves into the intricacies of Google's OAuth system, the technology behind the ubiquitous "Sign in with Google" feature. He discovered a critical flaw: if malicious actors acquire the domain name of a failed startup, they can potentially gain unauthorized access to a wide ran…
