Latitude Financial hack of Aussies could be bigger than first believed as company issues a vague statement warning of attack was ‘large scale’
- Aussie lender Latitude reported a cyber attack last week
- It’s affected current and former customers in Aus and NZ
- Licences, passports and Medicare numbers were stolen
More Australians than first believed may have had their personal data stolen following a cyber attack on top lender Latitude Financial.
The Melbourne-based financial firm – which offer short-term loans, credit cards and a buy now pay later service with retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Apple – initially reported a data breach last Thursday, in the biggest known hack on an Australian company this year so far.
Then, the business estimated that about 330,000 customers had been caught up in the breach.
But Latitude revealed this week that, following an internal review, the company is still trying to determine how many customers in Australia and New Zealand were affected – confirming that the hack had hit both current and former clients.
Personal data that was stolen in the breach includes drivers licences, passports and Medicare numbers.
Millions of Aussies may have had their information stolen following a cybersecurity attack on finance firm, Latitude (stock image)
‘Latitude is committed to keeping our customers, partners, employees and the broader community as up to date as possible as we respond to this attack,’ the statement read.
‘We are continuing our forensic review to determine the full extent of the attack on Latitude and the amount of personal information stolen by the attacker.’
Latitude claimed that ‘to the best of our knowledge’ no data had been taken from the company’s system since last Thursday but the review found ‘further evidence of large-scale information theft affecting customers’.
‘Our people are working urgently to identify the total number of customers and applicants affected and the type of personal information that has been stolen,’ Latitude said.
‘We appreciate how frustrating this latest development will be for our customers and we unreservedly apologise.’
The company has promised to provide a further update on the ordeal ‘once we have determined the full extent of the theft’.
They will also contact customers and applicants who have been affected by the hack.
‘Our focus remains firmly on containing this attack, progressing our forensic review of the actions taken by the attacker and restoring operational capability gradually over the coming days,’ Latitude added.
The Melbourne-based lender, who offer short-term loans, credit cards and a buy now pay later service with retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Apple, reported the data breach last Thursday (stock image)
Latitude confirmed current and former customers in Australia and New Zealand were affected by the data breach following an internal review
The cybersecurity breach has infuriated Latitude’s estimated 2.8milllion customer base.
Many slammed the lender for not informing customers earlier on what personal information was stolen and who had been affected.
It comes months after telecommunications company Optus and one of Australia’s biggest medical insurers Medibank became targets of two separate cyber attacks.
Hackers stole information from Optus’ 2.8 million customers including their passport and drivers licence numbers, email and home addresses, dates of birth and telephone numbers.
They managed to steal the data after reportedly exploiting a weakness in the company’s firewall.
The Medibank hack is estimated to have affected 9.7million customers, some of whom had their tax file numbers, bank account information and medical checks swiped.
