Telkom said it executed a search and seizure court order obtained from the Gauteng High Court against a third-party company that was alleged to have fraudulently accessed client data in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The search and seizure operation was carried out on the premises of the Johannesburg-based company and the residence of a Telkom franchisee employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Telkom said the raid resulted in confiscating data and records that were urgently needed to determine the extent of the allegations against the perpetrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A whistleblower notified the mobile operator about the alleged fraudulent customer poaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The franchisee employee allegedly leaked customer data to the third-party company after having access to it throughout their job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigators believe the third party illegally accessed this information to poach customers from Telkom. However, nothing points to Telkom customers suffering any financial losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Telkom said that the impacted customers were alerted as soon as the investigation allowed for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mobile network also notified the South African Information Regulator, as required by the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Telkom has reported a criminal case to the Hawks and is taking legal action against the perpetrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Telkom regards its customers’ interests and data as paramount,” the network provider said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Upon being alerted of the breach of customer information during September 2024, we immediately launched an inquiry, which has now resulted in a search and seizure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It says that several mitigation strategies have been implemented to strengthen its current data access protocols and reduce the risk of a repeat breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data breaches like these are not new to the country. A recent Allianz report listed South Africa as 14th among the countries hardest hit by such attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A rise in ransomware attacks, including data exfiltration, is a consequence of changing attacker tactics and the growing interdependencies between organisations sharing ever more volumes of personal records,” said Allianz Commercial’s global head of cyber claims, Michael Daum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allianz argued that despite a recent trend of increased investment in cybersecurity, many of the largest data exfiltration cyberattacks over the past 18 months have resulted from weak cybersecurity within organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One prominent example of a breach involving someone fraudulently obtaining data was a 2020 incident involving credit bureau Experian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n