Google Ads Data Breach: What Actually Got Stolen and Why You Should Care

Heads up - Google just confirmed something pretty serious. A group of hackers managed to get their hands on information about potential Google Ads customers through a breach in Google's Salesforce system. And before you ask - yes, this is different from the usual "oh no, another password leak" situation.

What Actually Happened Here?

Two hacking groups (they go by ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider - and yes, they're as sketchy as their names suggest) managed to break into Google's Salesforce database. They didn't get into the actual Google Ads platform, but they did snag business contact details and internal notes about potential customers.

The good news? No payment information was stolen. The bad news? These hackers now have names, email addresses, and phone numbers of businesses that were looking to start using Google Ads. That's basically a goldmine for targeted phishing attacks.

Why This Is Actually Pretty Clever (and Dangerous)

Here's what makes this attack particularly sneaky - these groups specifically went after Salesforce instances. It's like instead of trying to break into Fort Knox, they figured out it's easier to steal the visitor log of people who were thinking about opening an account.

And they're getting really sophisticated about it. They've developed custom tools specifically for stealing data from Salesforce, and they're using social engineering tactics that would make con artists jealous.

What This Means for Businesses

If you've been in talks with Google about starting Ads campaigns, you need to be extra careful right now. These hackers love to use stolen contact info to create super-convincing phishing emails. Imagine getting an email that looks exactly like it's from Google Ads, mentioning details from your actual conversations with them - that's the kind of thing we're worried about.

How to Protect Yourself

First things first - you need solid authentication across your business accounts. I know everyone hates dealing with passwords, but this is exactly why I push everyone to use a password manager. Personally, I use NordPass because it makes it super easy to generate and manage unique passwords for everything.

For really critical accounts (like anything involving money or customer data), you should absolutely be using hardware security keys. I've set up dozens of companies with YubiKeys - they're basically impossible for remote hackers to compromise, even if they somehow get your password.

Quick Checklist:

• Enable two-factor authentication on EVERYTHING (seriously, no exceptions)

• Train your team to spot phishing attempts - especially ones that might include real details about your business

• Double-check any Google Ads-related emails - don't click links, go directly to ads.google.com instead

• If you use Salesforce, audit your security settings and user access immediately

The Bigger Picture

This isn't just a one-off thing. ShinyHunters and their friends have been hitting Salesforce customers hard lately. They've gone after companies across pretty much every industry, using the same playbook: get into Salesforce, steal contact info, then use that for targeted attacks.

What's particularly worrying is how they're chaining these attacks together. They use info from one breach to make their next attack more convincing. It's like they're building a massive puzzle of business relationships, one piece at a time.

What Happens Next

If you're using Google Ads or thinking about it, stay alert. These groups are probably going to try to use this information for more targeted attacks. Watch your inbox carefully, and make sure everyone on your team knows about this.

And please, if you haven't already, get serious about password security. The number of businesses I've seen get compromised because they're still using the same password everywhere is just painful. A good password manager like NordPass is literally cheaper than the coffee runs most companies expense every week.

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