Six more companies affected by hacking attack

Six more firms have been added to the list of businesses whose customers’ credit card and personal details were stolen in a hacking attack on web-based company, Loyaltybuild, bringing the total revealed so far to 10.

Loyaltybuild said last night it was now satisfied it had identified all the businesses affected in Ireland and that those added to the list involved a small number of customers, believed to be several hundred.

However, the revelation that one of the new businesses was Postbank, a company disbanded three years ago, adds further pressure on Loyaltybuild to explain why it kept sensitive information for so long when it was no longer needed.

The businesses whose customers are most at risk as they had both personal and financial details stolen are SuperValu (70,000 customers), Axa Insurance (8,000), ESB (6,800) along with Stena Line, Clerys, TOG International, and Unislim Northern Ireland, whose customer numbers totalled the low hundreds.

A small number of Centra, Postbank, and Pigsback customers were also affected but only personal details were stolen. The total number affected across Europe stands at 1.6m.

Loyaltybuild general manager Peter Steenstrup last night apologised for the situation and lack of information.

“This incident is the subject of a serious investigation by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and we are not permitted to discuss specific details of the reach,” he said.