Virgin Media has admitted to leaving the personal information of 900,000 customers on an “incorrectly configured” database since April 2019 leading to a breach.

 

Reports also claim that at least one unknown person had access to the information during that time. The database which Virgin Media kept for marketing purposes had information like phone numbers, email and home addresses. However, there were no financial details on the database.

 

One of its marketing databases was “incorrectly configured” by an employee not following the correct procedure, thus causing a breach. A security researcher at TurgenSec discovered the problem then alerted the advertising firm.

 

Virgin Media Limited is a top British company that provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. According to the Financial Times, the affected 900,000 customers make up about 15% of its fixed-line customer base. Virgin Media also says it has made contact with all the affected customers.

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In a statement, the firm said:

 

“Our investigation is ongoing and we have contacted affected customers and the Information Commissioner’s Office. We take our responsibility to protect personal information seriously. We know what happened, why it happened and as soon as we became aware we immediately shut down access to the database and launched a full independent forensic investigation.”

 

Virgin Media customers affected by the breach could be targets for scammers

Virgin Media had apologised to the affected customers while assuring them that their top priority is to protect customers. The firm further advised the affected customers to contact cybersecurity experts if they think they are targets of identity theft due to the personal information that could have been stolen.

 

This is important as scammers can use this information for perpetual phishing attacks. They can also try to convince the customers that they are representatives of virgin media.

 

Virgin Media admits not to know who accessed the information during the breach. The tech firm, however, is urging its customers to stay cautious. Experts are also advising the customers to change all their relevant passwords.

 

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