Experian South Africa Suffers Data Breach Affecting Millions; Attacker Identified

The South African arm of one of the world’s largest credit
check companies Experian yesterday announced^[1] a data breach incident
that exposed personal information of millions of its customers.

While Experian itself didn’t mention the number of affect
customers, in a report^[2], the South African
Banking Risk Information Centre—an anti-fraud and banking
non-profit organization who worked with Experian to investigate the
breach—disclosed that the attacker had reportedly stolen data of 24
million South Africans and 793,749 business entities.

Notably, according to the company, the suspected attacker behind
this breach had already been identified, and the stolen data of its
customers had successfully been deleted from his/her computing
devices.

“We have identified the suspect and confirm that Experian South
Africa was successful in obtaining and executing an Anton Piller
order which resulted in the individual’s hardware being impounded
and the misappropriated data being secured and deleted.”

Experian South Africa has already reported the breach to law
enforcement and the appropriate regulatory authorities.

The company claims there is no evidence indicating whether the
stolen data includes consumers’ credit or financial information or
used for fraudulent purposes before authorities had it deleted.

“Our investigations also show that the suspect had intended to
use the data to create marketing leads to offer insurance and
credit-related services.”

“The compromise of personal information can create opportunities
for criminals to impersonate you but does not guarantee access to
your banking profile or accounts. However, criminals can use this
information to trick you into disclosing your confidential banking
details,” says SABRIC CEO, Nischal Mewalall.

Besides releasing this information, SAFPS also recommended that
credit reporting agency customers should immediately apply for a
free Protective Registration listing with Southern Africa Fraud
Prevention Service that has been designed to alert users when their
identity is compromised.

You can also regularly check your credit report for free here.
^[3]