Investigating data leaks from fraudulent tracking technologies

Unauthorized tracking technologies can steal personal data and threaten the security of company websites and applications. Here, the authors explore the benefits and disadvantages of using tracking technologies and lay out specific steps for investigating data leaks caused by unauthorized trackers.

The first indication that a retail company had been a victim of a security breach occurred in early 2023 when a customer complained that her account had been changed without her authorization. This incident set into motion an investigation that lasted five months and involved the company’s web development team, information technology and security specialists, and external forensic specialists. Ultimately, the company’s team of investigators determined that the breach hadn’t been caused by ransomware or business email compromise. Instead, investigators found unauthorized tracking technologies on the company’s website that’d been siphoning customers’ personal data to a third-party broker who then sold the data, including customers’ usernames, passwords, purchasing habits and credit card information. According to investigators, a previously undetected coding vulnerability in the company’s system invited the data breach, allowing malicious actors to inject cookies into the company’s website and collect and transfer data to an external database.