Santander bank has confirmed a data breach affecting customer and employee information following a breach of a third-party provider.
Yesterday, the bank revealed that hackers had accessed “specific information” related to Santander customers in Chile, Spain and Uruguay, as well as details of current and some former Santander group employees. data in all other Santander markets and businesses has not been affected.
Customers must be vigilant
According to the bank, the data breach was caused by gaining unauthorized access hackers to a Santander database hosted by a third-party provider. Fortunately, the database did not contain transaction data or credentials that would have allowed transactions to be made.
See also: Singing River Health System: Data breach affects 895,000 people
The breach did not affect the bank's operations and systems. Customers can continue their transactions safely.
The bank immediately implemented measures to contain the data breach, blocking access to the compromised database and implementing additional controls to prevent fraud and protect affected customers.
Santander said it is notifying customers and staff affected by the breach and has also notified regulators and law enforcement.
We do not know, at this time, what data has been affected, but the bank warned customers to be vigilant for phishing messages and suspicious calls.
Risk of third-party breaches
Recently, there have been several high-profile breaches caused by third-party vendors. This includes the financial sector, with American Express recently informing customers that information may have been compromised following a third-party data breach.
See also: Helsinki: Data breach affects thousands of people
Cybersecurity experts have warned that organizations in critical sectors such as finance need to implement stricter security controls and requirements on third-party vendors.
How to avoid similar incidents?
Here are some tips on how organizations can protect themselves from similar breaches:
Regular system updates: Software, applications, and systems should be updated regularly. Updates contain patches for known vulnerabilities that hackers to gain unauthorized access to data.
Implement multi-factor authentication: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide multiple forms of identification before granting access. This can include a combination of passwords, biometric verification, or one-time passwords. MFA makes it much more difficult for hackers to gain unauthorized access to your systems.
🔒 Protect your privacy with Proton VPN
Swiss VPN from the creators of Proton Mail — strict no-logs policy, strong encryption, and built-in NetShield that blocks ads, trackers, & malware.
- ✔ No-logs, based in Switzerland (except 14-Eyes)
- ✔ NetShield: blocks ads, trackers & malicious domains
- ✔ Covers all devices — free version available
The link is an affiliate link — SecNews may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. It does not affect the independence of our article writing.
Regular security audits: Conducting regular security audits can help identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities in systems and processes that could potentially be exploited by hackers. By identifying these gaps early, proactive measures can be taken to address them and prevent data breaches.
See also: Dell customer data breached
Train employees on cybersecurity: Human error is often the weakest link in cybersecurity, making employees an easy target for hackers. It is important to train staff on how to identify and respond to potential cyber threats, such as phishing emails or social engineering attacks. By training staff, the risk of human error leading to a data breach is significantly reduced.
Data Encryption: Encrypting sensitive data is one of the best ways to protect it from third-party access. By converting plain text into code, encryption makes it nearly impossible for hackers to decrypt and access your data, even if they manage to get their hands on it.
Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
