Standard Bank advises customers to tighten security after hack attack

Standard Bank’s and Liberty’s systems have been affected by a hack attack, resulting in the leak of personal details and company information.

The bank has urged customers to take steps to improve their security measures.

“Given the nature of the information accessed, there is a risk that someone could use it to try to impersonate you or contact you fraudulently. This could include emails, messages or calls that appear genuine, or attempts to use your details without your permission,” the bank warned this week.

The breach was first reported by Standard Bank on March 23, the same date that Liberty also said it had “detected unauthorised third-party access to select data systems”.

The cybercrime has come under the spotlight, with MyBroadBand and TechCentral reporting a person using the name “Rootboy” has claimed responsibility for the breach on a dark web forum. Some credit card data has reportedly been published online, with the person wanting payment of one bitcoin in exchange for not releasing more information.

Standard Bank said affected clients would be contacted.

“The specific information involved may differ from person to person. Based on what we know [at this stage], the affected information involved includes: names; ID numbers; company registration numbers; contact details, such as phone numbers or email addresses; and account numbers.

“We continue to strengthen controls and enhance monitoring in line with industry best practice to safeguard your information. We have reported this incident to the regulatory authorities.”

Standard Bank said its teams are investigating the data breach with the help of external experts.

“Our banking systems were not impacted. They remain secure and operational.”

It has advised its clients to take precautionary measures, including:

• Update passwords on digital banking platforms as well as your social media platforms.
• Use strong, unique passwords and enable biometric authentication where possible.
• Register with the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service for protective registration. This is a free service. If anyone tries to apply for any banking-related products with your identity number, it will be declined or referred for further review.
• Verify any unexpected email, SMS or call asking for sensitive information by contacting the bank through trusted channels.
• Avoid clicking on suspicious links or unfamiliar websites’ URLs.
• Enable digital authentication on the bank’s mobile banking app.
• Do not share personal information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do so by anyone via phone, fax, text messages or even email.

Liberty said for most affected clients, “the impacted data is limited to names and ID numbers, but for some clients this may also include contact details, address, tax number, bank account number and/or policy details”.

“Our team, supported by experts, has launched a full investigation into this incident. We operate within a robust regulatory framework and fully comply with all applicable obligations. We are notifying all affected clients. We regret any concern this may have caused. Your investments and policies remain secure.”

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