You may have seen the headlines:
“Discord Data Breach Exposes Personal Info”
The stories sound alarming—and they are—but not for the reasons you might think.
Let’s dig into what actually happened and how it affects businesses like yours.
What Really Happened?
Discord itself wasn’t hacked. Instead, one of their third-party vendors (Zendesk, which handles support tickets) suffered a breach.
That breach exposed data from customer support interactions, including:
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Full names and email addresses
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Discord usernames
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Support messages and attachments
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In rare cases, government-issued ID images like driver’s licenses or passports
To be clear:
Nothing from inside Discord chats or servers was accessed. This breach only affected support communications submitted through Zendesk.
The Bigger Risk: Third-Party Vendors
This incident is a textbook example of a supply chain vulnerability. Even if your internal systems are secure, your data is only as safe as the vendors you work with.
Most businesses today rely on third-party tools for customer support, billing, marketing, file storage—you name it.
And while those vendors might promise security, it’s up to you to verify.
Smart Vendor Management: What to Do
Here’s how to protect your business:
- Ask about certifications
Look for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar. These show a vendor is following best practices for data security. - Check their data retention policies
What happens to your data after the support ticket is resolved? Can you request deletion? Is that data stored in backups? - Limit access
Vendors don’t need full admin access to your systems. Use “least privilege” principles to give them access only to what’s necessary. - Review incident response plans
Do you know what to do if your data is compromised?
Most businesses think about restoring systems—but forget about customer notification, legal obligations, and reputation damage control. - How DS Tech Helps
As a trusted IT partner, we help our clients vet vendors, secure data, and build strong response plans—before there’s a problem.
And yes, we walk the talk. We review our own vendors regularly and ask the same hard questions we recommend to you.
Worried About Vendor Risks? Let’s Talk.
Start with a free security assessment here. We’ll help you lock down your supply chain—before the next breach makes headlines.
