Data breach at African Bank’s debt collector partner exposes customers

Personal data, including that of a number of African Bank loan customers under debt review, has been compromised after a cyber attack on debt collector Debt-IN.

This was confirmed by African Bank on Wednesday.

The cyber attack was in April.

“At the time, expert security advice concluded there was no evidence the ransomware attack had resulted in a data breach,” African Bank said.

However, “Debt-IN is aware the personal data of certain customers, including a number of African Bank Loan customers under debt review, has been compromised.”

A “robust” mitigation plan has been implemented by Debt-IN to contain and reduce any further adverse impact, the bank said.

“We have been collaborating with Debt-IN to address this breach,” said Piet Swanepoel, chief risk officer at African Bank.

“We have notified the relevant regulatory authorities and are in the process of alerting customers who have been affected via e-mail and SMS.”

TimesLIVE