Security vendor McAfee spills 1,400 customer names

In a story just dripping with irony, e-mail security vendor McAfee has accidentally sent the contact details of some1400 conference attendees in a spreadsheet attached to a thank you message.

Computerworld has obtained details about the leak from a person who wishes to remain anonymous.

On 17 July 17 McAfee held a security conference at the Sydney Convention Centre. The event was well attended by 1408 guests.

How do we know?

Well, in an e-mail a week later thanking people for attending McAfee added a spreadsheet containing the names, numbers, e-mail addresses, employment details, and even dietary requirements of the 1408 people, according to the source.

As expected McAfee went into damage control and immediately posted a message to those who received the list "instructing" them to delete it.

A spokesperson for McAfee said the company sincerely apologises for the outcome and the inconvenience caused.

"We managed to intercept this e-mail before it completed and are issuing an e-mail instructing recipients to delete it," The spokesperson said.

"McAfee has stringent guidelines on use of personal data and have put in place appropriate measures to ensure that this does not happen again."

Let's hope the "appropriate measures" to prevent this type of data loss includes the use of a McAfee Total Protection for Internet Gateways.

By combining email and web security with data loss prevention in one affordable solution, McAfee Total Protection for Internet Gateways helps you protect against malware attacks and keep sensitive information secure, according to the company.

"Automatic enforcement of industry and regulatory controls. Apply policies consistently to stop sensitive and protected data from leaving the enterprise through email and web traffic."

McAfee was invited to comment but has not yet responded.