Students’ details on Eircom online study service hacked

Thousands of teenagers who use Eircom’s online study tool StudyHub have had their registration details hacked, with the theft of user names and passwords.

However, a spokesperson for Eircom said last night that there was no risk of any financial details having been hacked and that customers who pay for Eircom broadband by direct debit have no cause for concern.

In a statement earlier yesterday, Eircom said that following notification from one of its service providers, it had informed the affected users of StudyHub of a “potential data breach” which occurred on Thursday.

Eircom informed the Data Protection Commissioner and the gardaí yesterday that the hackers had accessed the account details of 10,829 online users, including 8,404 Eircom StudyHub customers.

Clear Voice Systems Ltd, trading as Exam Support, and provider of the StudyHub service, informed Eircom on Thursday evening that their server had been hacked, including user name and password details for some registered users. According to the statement, Examsupport.ie responded immediately to stop the attack and has since strengthened its security to protect against any future breaches.

Apologising for the inconvenience, Eircom emailed all 20,000 registered StudyHub users, informing them of the risk and encouraging them to change their passwords to prevent unauthorised access to their StudyHub account.

“There is no danger of any financial data being breached,” said Eircom spokesman Paul Bradley.

“Neither is there any danger to personal data like names and addresses,” he added. He said the response to the hacking by Clear Voice Systems was immediate and appropriate.

* Customers with questions or queries who would like to be contacted should email Eircom at [e-mail].