Yahoo Finance Virgin Media sorry after data breach affects almost 1 million customers
Virgin Media has apologised after a data breach left the personal details of almost 1 million customers unsecured.
The company said the breach affected around 900,000 customers after a marketing database was “incorrectly configured,” which allowed unauthorised access.
Virgin said the breach didn’t include any personal details such as passwords or bank details, but contained information like email addresses and phone numbers.
Access to the database had been shut down immediately following the discovery but by that time the database was accessed "on at least one occasion," the company said.
It added that it was unsure about the extent of the access or if any information was actually used.
The database had been unsecured since April 2019, according to some reports.
In a statement, the company said: "We recently became aware that one of our marketing databases was incorrectly configured which allowed unauthorised access.
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"We immediately solved the issue by shutting down access to this database, which contained some contact details of approximately 900,000 people, including fixed line customers representing approximately 15% of that customer base.
"Protecting our customers' data is a top priority and we sincerely apologise.
"Based on our investigation, Virgin Media does believe that the database was accessed on at least one occasion but we do not know the extent of the access or if any information was actually used.”
News of Virgin Media’s data breach comes just days after Tesco admitted a security breach of 600,000 Clubcard customer accounts.
People who think they could be victims of identity theft as a result of stolen personal data, should contact Action Fraud.
