Australia's Latitude says nearly 8 mln drivers licence numbers stolen (updated)

Latitude group

27/03/2023 06:37

(Repeats to widen distribution)

        * 
      Data theft much bigger than flagged on March 16
    

        * 
      Drivers license, passport numbers, customer records stolen
    

        * 
      Shares fall 2.5%
    

  
    By Byron Kaye and Navya Mittal
       March 27 (Reuters) - Australian consumer finance firm
Latitude Group Holdings Ltd  LFS.AX  said hackers stole nearly 8
million Australian and New Zealand drivers licence numbers in
one of the country's biggest confirmed data breaches, sending
its shares lower.
    The provider of credit cards and personal loans for some of
Australia's biggest retailers added the cyber intruder also took
about 53,000 passport numbers and more than 6 million customer
records, mostly from between 2005 and 2013, in what it called a
"distressing development".
        The update showed the attack which temporarily froze
Latitude's operations affected far more customers than first
disclosed by the company on March 16, when it said criminals
took 103,000 licences.
    It now ranks among the country's biggest data thefts, behind
only Singapore Telecommunications Ltd-owned  STEL.SI  No. 2
telco Optus and medical insurer Medibank Private Ltd  MPL.AX 
which each said details of about 10 million customer accounts
were compromised in attacks late last year.
    Since a wave of data breaches began with Optus, the
Australian government has increased penalties for companies
which fail to adequately protect customer data as part of an
overhaul of the national cyber security strategy still underway.
    "Cyber attacks are a growing threat and will become a more
routine part of our lives for years to come, and this incident
is another reminder of the importance of improving Australia’s
cyber security and privacy settings," said Cyber Security
Minister Clare O'Neil.
    "It remains our position that no customer should bear the
cost of a data breach," she added, noting Latitude was working
with the authorities to manage the fallout of the attack.
        Shares of Latitude closed down 2.5% in a flat overall
market  .AXJO , as investors fretted that the company's exposure
may be worse than previously thought.
    "Whenever investors hear of a data breach, they tend to
assume the worst," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at
City Index.
    Latitude said in a statement its insurance covered
cyber-security risks.
        "We are rectifying platforms impacted in the attack and
have implemented additional security monitoring as we return to
operations in the coming days," CEO Ahmed Fahour said in the
statement. 

 (Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney and Navya Mittal in
Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue, Muralikumar Anantharaman,
Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonali Paul)
 ((Navya.Mittal@thomsonreuters.com;))