Latitude Financial cyber-attack worse than first thought with 14m customer records stolen

Consumer lender says details taken include 7.9m driver’s licence numbers and 53,000 passport numbers

Latitude Financial has revealed that 14m customer records – including driver’s licence numbers, passport numbers and financial statements – were stolen from its system in a cyber-attack that was far worse than the company initially reported.

The consumer lender, which offers personal loans and credit to customers shopping at stores including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Harvey Norman, said in a statement on Monday that some of the documents date back to at least 2005.

The details stolen include 7.9m Australian and New Zealand driver’s licence numbers and 53,000 passport numbers, Latitude said.

A further 6.1m customer records were also stolen, of which 5.7m were provided before 2013. These records include information such as names, addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, the company said.

“It is hugely disappointing that such a significant number of additional customers and applicants have been affected by this incident. We apologise unreservedly,” Latitude’s chief executive, Ahmed Fahour, said.

“We are committed to working closely with impacted customers and applicants to minimise the risk and disruption to them, including reimbursing the cost if they choose to replace their ID document.”

Latitude first disclosed it was hacked in mid-March and said the breach was thought to only include about 100,000 identification documents and 225,000 customer records.

The company responded to unusual activity on its systems but not before the attacker obtained Latitude employee login credentials to access the documentation.

Consumer lenders typically use a lot of identification documents as part of the credit-checking process for new customers. Latitude offers a variety of credit options including personal loans, car loans credit cards and insurance.

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Latitude Financial cyber-attack worse than first thought with 14m customer records stolen | Business | The Guardian