U.K telecom giant Vodafone has announced today that data of their 1,827 customers has been stolen. It includes their Full names, numbers, bank codes and last four digits of their bank account. This is the second high profile hacking attack in UK within days; where the personal details of customers are leaked to cyber criminals. Last week millions of TalkTalk customers suffered from similar
attack which puts the company on brink of bankruptcy.
Even though the count of customers effected from this attack is very low when you compare it to the one on 23rd October 2015. But this attack raised many questions on the cyber defense of U.K telecommunication industry. It is not clear whether this is the same group of hackers; who stole from talk talk servers. Vodafone released an statement immediately ensure their customers that hackers didn’t stole data from their systems.
In an official statement Vodafone spokesperson said, ” This incident was driven by criminals using email addresses and passwords acquired from an unknown source external to Vodafone. Vodafone’s systems were not compromised or breached in any way.”
The customers effected by this attack are pretty vulnerable to any sort of fraud or phishing attempts. Even though the company had contacted the banks of their effected customers but still the nature of the data stolen is extremely sensitive.
Customers who are effected has been informed by the company in late hours of Thursday, according to its spokesperson. He further added: “No other customers need to be concerned, as the security of our customers’ data continues to be one of our highest priorities.”
Remember a T
eenage hacker was arrested by the metropolitan police this week who is believed to be connected to the hacking attack on talk talk network. Some are saying this attack is the answer from the same group of hackers to the authorities while other are saying; statement from talk talk representative has triggered the hackers to attack on another telecom network in U.K.
Those Vodafone users who are effected from this attack should immediately follow these guidelines to avoid any fraud or misuse of their identity.
- Your bank account details are leaked – get in touch with your bank, change your PIN.
- Don’t trust every email you receive. Messages sent by criminals that appear to be from a trusted source and seek to gain personal details
- Your bank account number or details, avoid providing them to anyone you don’t know.
- Activate report alert on any credit card activity, so you can immediately know if a fraudulent activity is taking place.
- If you notice any unusual activity on your bank or credit card, immediately contact your bank.
An investigation is opened by National Crime Agency (NCA) on this latest data breach. Vodafone and NCA are in contact since the customers data is breached, according to NCA spokesperson.
