Approximately 1.7 million Nedbank customers’ personal information was at risk of exposure due to a security issue with a third-party service provider of the bank.
Nedbank confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had detected the problem at Computer Facilities during a “routine investigation” and that no customer’s data was known to have gone into the wrong hands so far.
Computer Facilities handles the sending of marketing material on behalf of Nedbank.
Some of the details he stored about Nedbank customers include names, ID numbers, cellphone numbers, email addresses and postal addresses.
Nedbank has “proactively” decided to erase all the data of its customers in the possession of Computer Facilities.
A forensic investigation into the Computer Facilities security issue has also been launched.
The company’s systems have also been disconnected from the Internet in the meantime to ensure that cybercrackers cannot access the information.
Nedbank and Computer Facilities systems were not directly interconnected.
The company also did not have access to Nedbank customers’ bank or credit card details.
Nedbank has indicated that it will also communicate directly with the approximately 1.7 million affected customers.
The bank did not say whether it will continue to use Computer Facilities services in the future.
