Reseller Hack Results In Data Breach, Vodafone Italy Confirms

Vodafone Italia warns customers of a possible data breach that may compromise their personal data after its reseller was cyber-attacked.

FourB S.p.A., which is a reseller of the telecommunications company's services in the country, was hacked back in September, exposing sensitive user details.

Vodafone Sends Notice To Customers

According to Secure Blink, the company released a notice to its subscribers that revealed subscription details, identity documents, and contact details have been exposed.

However, Vodafone Italia claims and reassures its subscribers that no account password or network traffic data have been leaked as a result of the attack.

Europe's leading telecom service provider also strongly advised its customers to remain vigilant against correspondence that may increase their risk of being phished.

In light of the rising frequency of cyber scams, Vodafone Italia confirms that FourB S.p.A. has closed its servers to prevent the hackers from reentering them.

Bleeping Computer writes that the reseller has since implemented a higher level of security on its systems to avoid the incident from happening again.

While Vodafone Italia and FourB S.p.A. have not yet provided more details about the data breach, it is suspected that the incident is linked to the September 3 hack.

Last month, a group of hackers called KelvinSecurity claimed a cyber attack against the telecommunications company.

This cybercrime ring put up a cache of 295,000 files or 310 GB worth of data stolen from Vodafone Italia on hacker chats and forums to sell.

Secure Blink reports that Vodafone Italia issued a brief statement at the time, claiming no evidence of unauthorized access had been found in the company's internal IT systems.

However, in response, the company assured the public that they would continue investigating the suspected cyber attack.

KelvinSecurity is a notorious data seller that also sells access to databases to other hackers on hacker forums.

Vodafone Has Been Targeted By Hackers Multiple Times This Year

The recent data compromise affecting Vodafone Italia subscribers is not the first time for the telecom company as its Portuguese counterpart was also attacked in February.

According to Reuters, Vodafone Portugal's services were disrupted by cyber criminals when its system faced technical problems in February.

Because of this, service subscribers were unable to get calls through and access the internet as a result of the deliberate attack.

Meanwhile, in August, Vodafone Idea, a merger company between Vodafone India and Idea Cellular was also reported to have been hacked, Indian Express writes.

CyberX9, a cybersecurity research team, said that the company's attacker exposed sensitive customer information, which Vodafone Idea denied.

However, CyberX9 argued that vulnerabilities were discovered that might have compromised call logs, SMS records, location details, phone numbers, and personal and billing information.

In previous years, Vodafone had already been sued and fined for its negligence in the service and customer security departments.

Vodafone is a leading company in Europe and Africa that deals with telecommunications to develop products and services that connect digital societies for a better future.