Woolworths says some 2.2 million customers of its MyDeal business have had their data stolen after the company identified “unauthorised access” to its systems.
The supermarket giant made the disclosure late on Friday, after the market had closed.
“MyDeal is in the process of contacting the approximately 2.2 million affected customers by email … Woolworths Group and MyDeal have also commenced engagement with relevant regulatory authorities and government agencies,” the company said in a statement.
MyDeal stores a range of customer data including names, emails, phone numbers and delivery addresses, but does not keep payment, drivers license or passport details.
The company said 1.2 million customers impacted by the breach only had emails exposed.
Woolworths acquired the majority of MyDeal in September.
“We apologise for the considerable concern that this will cause our affected customers,” said MyDeal chief executive Sean Senvirtne. “We have acted quickly to identify and mitigate unauthorised access and have increased the monitoring of networks.”
Woolworths said it had brought in its cyber security and privacy team to work with MyDeal.
It is the third breach at a major Australian company in the last month, following the disclosure of the private details of some 10 million Optus customers. That breach included Medicare and passport data, with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and Australian Communications and Media Authority reviewing why Optus had such extensive information about their customers.
Medibank last week said it has held discussions with cyber security agencies and the prudential regulator after it detected “unusual activity” on its network late on Wednesday.
The ASX-listed insurer said it had taken down several systems – causing significant disruption to some customers – but added that there was no evidence that sensitive data, including personal information, had been accessed.
Medicare shares remained in a trading halt on Friday.
Woolworths shares last traded at $33.76.
Extracted from The Australian
