Synergy says ‘no evidence’ 900,000 customer accounts have been hacked despite warning

Perth’s government-owned electricity utility Synergy says it has found no evidence the data of more than 900,000 customer accounts were hacked, as claimed on hacking watch websites.

Earlier this week, hacking watch websites and social media accounts reported that someone using the moniker “hackboy” had stolen data from 900,002 Synergy customer accounts and was selling it on the internet.

Cybersecurity company Vercert reported the data included “full names, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, account IDs, payment balances, and billing statements”.

A Synergy spokeswoman said the utility was taking the threat seriously, but had not found any evidence that data had been stolen.

“Synergy is investigating a claim by an external party regarding a potential cybersecurity incident,” she said.

“Based on information available at this time, there is no evidence of data loss or compromise.

“Synergy’s priority is the security of its customers’ data, and is taking all necessary precautionary measures as appropriate including working with the Office of the Digital Government and cyber security experts to thoroughly investigate the claims.”

More to come.