Probe after bank details of firms sent by email to rivals
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, came about as a result of an error using a mail merge application used in the generation of pre-electronic fund transfer checks. This resulted in emails being issued out of sequence. Consequently, bank details of companies who do business with the council were released to other companies.
A spokesperson for Kerry County Council confirmed the data breach had occurred on Tuesday but declined to say how many businesses were involved, other than to say the number was “significant”. Following the error, an email was sent out to affected customers advising them to delete an earlier email which contained a third party’s bank details. “I wish to advise you that an error using a mail merge application was made in the generation of pre-EFT checks whereby emails were issued out of sequence. Consequently, you received banking details of a third party which you should delete immediately.
