Latitude Financial today reveiled it was hacked in Australia’s latest data breach by a sophisticated cyber attack resulting in approximatly 328,000 customers ID’s being breached, with 103,000 (more than 97%) believed to have had their drivers’ licence information compromised or stolen
ASX-listed Latitude, a major Australian financial services company offering loans, insurance and digital payment products with more than 2.7 million customers across Australia and New Zealand ceased trading on the Australian Securities Exchange this morning after announcing today, March 16, 2023 that it has been hacked in a “sophisticated and malicious cyber attack”.
The financial services company says the threat actor may have used employee login credentials to steal personal information held by two other service providers
Latitude said it was continuing to respond to the attack and is doing everything in it’s power to contain and prevent further custom data from being stolen, including isolating and removing access to some of their customer facing and internal systems.
The data breach has affected both current and former customers of Latitude Financial, with the company notifying all impacted individuals as a precautionary measure.
In a statement it said, “Latitude apologises to the impacted customers and is taking immediate steps to contact them,“
According to Latitude it would cooperate with authorities in an ongoing investigation into the data breach and it would prioritise to ensure the security of it’s customers, partners and employees.
Professor of Practice Nigel Phair, Department of Software Systems & Cybersecurity at Monash University said, “It is disappointing, yet unsurprising to see another Australian organisation suffer a cyber attack and subsequent data breach,”
“This attack also highlights that many intrusions into organisations occur through trusted third-party organisations who themselves often do not prioritise cybersecurity risk management,”
“The banking and finance sector is Australia’s most important critical infrastructure sector. It is important that all organisations in this sector put extra effort into cybersecurity and ensure the trust and safety in the broader sector for all Australians,” said Professor Nigel Phair
A customer has unmerged and believes his details have been stolen after noticing more than more than $1500 had been on used his card and made more than 150 calls to Latitude in the past 30 hours with no answer
Additionally, a man from the western suburbs of Melbourne told Tech Business News he attempted to place a hold on his cards after learning of the attack. However, was also unable to reach the company.
This cyber attack is a stark reminder of the importance of robust cybersecurity measures, particularly for companies that hold sensitive customer data.
Latitude Financial’s response to the breach will be closely watched as it seeks to rebuild customer trust and safeguard against future attacks.
