One of the servers of Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) got hacked in Germany leaking the information of 2 million customers who applied for the new contract or account with Vodafone. Vodafone said in a statement that an employee of Vodafone hacked and accessed the information. However, the police have identified an individual and have seized their assets.
No major information leaked
Information such as names, addresses, birth date, gender, bank sort code and bank account numbers have been taken. Vodafone claims that the information like credit card details, mobile phone numbers, passwords or PIN numbers were not leaked for any of customers in Germany.
“In the absence of passwords, PINs or credit card details it is very unlikely that criminals would gain direct access to an individual’s bank account,” the company said.
Vodafone said that there is a possibility that criminals may request a fake direct debit application, which an account holder will be able to see immediately, and can block or reverse it under well protected banking protection measures.
Hacking of the details only affect customers of Vodafone Germany, and the company has taken complete care of those affected. Vodafone has also issued a warning where the customers are advised to be more alert about possible phishing attacks at this time.
Voda detected the attack early September
Kuzey Esener, a Vodafone spokesman, said Vodafone came to know about the attack in starting of September, and it was immediately stopped and reported to the authorities. He said that customers can go through Vodafone’s official website if they are affected by the hacker. Additionally, information through the mail will be send to all those affected.
Vodafone gets a major portion of its revenue and profit from Germany compared to any other country. Last year, Germany contributed 18 percent sales of the company. Vodafone is looking forward to complete a 7.7 billion euro ($10.2 billion) takeover of Kabel Deutschland Holding AG, Germany’s biggest cable company.
Other companies that faced similar hacking recently
Among the list of high profile companies that have been a victim of phishing attacks, Vodafone is the latest. In the previous months, companies like Google, Twitter and the New York Times have been the victim of such crimes.
