Consumer finance provider Latitude Financial has disclosed that personal data belonging to around 14 million customers has been leaked by cyber criminals, marking the largest data breach ever reported in Australia.
Initially, the firm reported that information had been stolen from 330,000 customers on March 6. However, on Monday, Latitude acknowledged that the cyber attack was much larger than first thought. The stolen data consists of driver’s licence numbers belonging to customers from Australia and New Zealand.
Those affected include current and former customers, applicants for consumer credit services and customers from over 10 years ago.
Ahmed Fahour, Latitude’s CEO, expressed regret over the incident and vowed to work with affected customers and applicants to minimise risks and reimburse costs associated with replacing identification documents.
Latitude Financial was founded in 2015 following the sale of GE Capital’s Australian and New Zealand businesses to a consortium led by Deutsche Bank, KKR and Varde Partners.
The cybersecurity minister has voiced concern and ordered government agencies to support the National Coordination Mechanism in relation to the attack.
The firm has reported no further cyberattacks on its systems since March 16 and is cooperating with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Federal Police, who are investigating the incident.
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