As we had told you in our previous issue of Hrjob.ca, Monster.com was the victim of a massive computer attack on August 17, 2007, led by a group of hackers, who managed to get into Monster’s candidate databases and steal confidential data from more than one million accounts
Following this event, Monster.com implemented a series of measures. First of all, all candidates were contacted to warn them about possible e-mails purporting to be from Monster. This proactive action was intended to prevent the hackers from obtaining candidates’ social insurance and credit card numbers by pretending to be recruiters or Monster.com representatives.
On the technical side, new control and worldwide traffic monitoring capabilities have been implemented. All the site’s access controls have also been reviewed and reinforced. A series of targeted initiatives, designed to protect the contact information of job seekers, has also been launched. Monster.com has been deliberately vague about this so as not to give away too much information to potential new hackers. One thing is sure: the security issue has become an absolute priority for President and CEO, Sal Iannuzzi. The security team, beefed up with several senior managers, now reports directly to him.