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MoviePass confirms breach that leaked credit card numbers

The data had been available for months until a TechCrunch report highlighted it.

On Tuesday TechCrunch reported that security researcher Mossab Hussein, with the firm SpiderSilk, found an exposed, unencrypted MoviePass database with millions of records. Some of those included numbers for its custom debit cards that are used when subscribers purchase tickets, while others listed customer's personal information including their credit card numbers, expiration dates and billing information. Another researcher had located the vulnerable information back in July and notified the company, but neither was able to get a response, while yet another found evidence the database had been public since May of this year.

MoviePass took the database offline yesterday after the report, and today finally publicly responded with a statement from a spokesperson.

MoviePass recently discovered a security vulnerability that may have exposed subscriber records. After discovering the vulnerability, we immediately secured our systems to prevent further exposure and to mitigate the potential impact of this incident. MoviePass takes this incident seriously and is dedicated to protecting our subscribers' information. We are working diligently to investigate the scope of this incident and its potential impact on our subscribers. Once we gain a full understanding of the incident, we will promptly notify any affected subscribers and the appropriate regulators or law enforcement.

The company put its services "on hold" in July while saying it was working on its app, but couldn't close this security hole -- despite apparent attempts at notifications before restoring access "to a substantial number of our current subscribers."