Hot Topic Details

    Organization Logo

    Hot Topic

    Industry, California • 3000 employees • Retail

    https://www.hottopic.com/
    United States

    Industry

    Retail

    Security Incidents

    1

    Hot Topic, Inc. is a U.S.-based retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music and pop culture merchandise. Founded in 1988 by Orv Madden, the first Hot Topic store opened in Montclair, California. The company has since grown into a popular shopping destination for teenagers and young adults. Known for its punk, goth, and alternative fashion styles, the brand has strongly emphasized music-inspired apparel and accessories in its early years, which helped cement its connection with youth subcultures.

    Over the years, Hot Topic has expanded...
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    Security Incidents

    Hot Topic Breach of Oct 2024
    Severity Score
    Low to Moderate

    Type

    3rd Party Compromise

    Summary

    In October 2024, fashion retailer Hot Topic experienced a data breach in which a threat actor known as Satanic claimed to have stolen the personal information of approximately 350 million customers. The stolen data included names, email addresses, physical addresses, and dates of birth. While the attacker stated that they also obtained partial credit card information—specifically last four digits of credit cards, card types, hashed expiration dates, and account holder names—it appears the financial details were not fully compromised.

    The breach is believed to have originated from an employee ...
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    Severity

    In this incident, a data thief known as 'Satanic' claimed to have stolen the records of approximately 350 million customers from the fashion retailer Hot Topic, primarily targeting loyalty account details. The breach exposed personally identifiable information such as names, emails, physical addresses, and dates of birth. Although financial information was somewhat protected, the thief possessed some limited credit card data, including the last four digits and hashed expiration dates. This breach possibly originated through a malware infection at Robling, a retail analytics business.

    Despite ...
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    Impact

    The incident involving fashion retailer Hot Topic was a significant data breach attributed to a hacker known as "Satanic." Approximately 350 million customer records were compromised, exposing personal identifiable information (PII) such as names, emails, physical addresses, and dates of birth. Additionally, partial financial information, including the last four digits of credit cards, card types, and hashed expiration dates, was also accessed, albeit with a limited scope of actionable data.

    This breach did not result in systems or services being taken offline, and there is no information sug...
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