Incident Report IR-1224: FROSTBYTE

The official investigation into how this portal leaked out of the North Pole. You do not have clearance to read this. Nobody has stopped you, though.

North Pole Logistics · Office of the Head Elf of Compliance

Ref. IR-1224

Notice of Data Incident

Dear Valued Household,

What happened?: A workshop server sneezed, and the North Pole's internal portal popped out into the wider world. You are looking at it now.
What information was involved?: Paperwork. Toy counts. Memos. Elf personnel files (shoe sizes, cocoa orders). 3,412 glitter requisitions. One cocoa order, extra marshmallows.
What was not involved?: Letters to Santa. Lists. Anything about you. They live in a separate, very locked cupboard that has never been connected to anything.
What are we doing about it?: Investigating, quietly. Hot cocoa for all staff. New password rules. "password" is no longer allowed.
What can you do?: Stay calm. Be kind. Leave cookies. And if anything online ever asks for a secret, stop and show a grown-up.

B. Ledgerly
Bartholomew Ledgerly, Head Elf of Compliance

We take your cheer very seriously.

Investigation log

November 1, 06:00 NPT

Unusual visitors detected

The Big Abacus reports thousands of visitors to the internal portal from outside the North Pole. Visitors appear to be families. Some are eating breakfast. None are elves.
November 1, 06:12 NPT

Source of the leak identified as "hackers"

The Office of Compliance has concluded that the portal was hacked. Evidence: the portal is public, and it was not supposed to be. The intruder signed the server log with one word: FROSTBYTE.
November 1, 09:30 NPT

Decision from Operations

Mrs. Claus has reviewed the situation and decided to leave the portal open "because it's nice". Compliance has been asked to keep investigating, quietly, and to stop saying "breach" in the canteen.

Investigation continuing. Entries are added as Compliance finds things out.

What leaked, and what didn't

Exposed in the leak

The workshop inventory and production numbers
Internal memos (Compliance is very embarrassed)
Elf personnel files (shoe sizes, cocoa orders, secret talents)
Workshop Radio
Sleigh loading and the flight plan

Never exposed

Letters to Santa. The Intake Desk keeps them in a separate, very locked cupboard that has never been connected to anything.
Anything about any child. The portal never had it. It only knows about toys.
Santa's route. The route is the same every year: he follows midnight.

For grown-ups: only paperwork leaked. No letters, no names and nothing about any child was involved, and the Portal collects nothing from children. The "hacker" turns out to be a kind junior elf, so this is safe to read together. See the Grown-Ups' Desk for more.

Compliance's three rules for staying safe online

Secrets stay in the snow globe. Your name, where you live and your passwords are only for grown-ups you trust.
A good password is long, like a scarf. Mix it up, like a fruitcake. Never share it, not even with a polite penguin.
Free fruitcake? Stop. If something online says you've won a prize, asks for a secret, or says hurry: don't click. Show a grown-up.

FROSTBYTE on Workshop Radio

Hear Compliance's updates read aloud on Workshop Radio, 99.4 FM: