Paddy Power admits mass data theft

Paddy Power admits mass data theftPaddy Power, the Irish bookie which loves nothing more than causing a stir with its advertising, has found itself in a storm of its own making after admitting that 650,000 customer records have been stolen.
To add insult to injury, the company has only just confessed that the data breach – which includes the loss of names, addresses, dates of birth, and even the maiden names of customers – actually occurred back in 2010.
It is understood that Paddy Power was aware that malicious activity had taken place at the time, and initiated an update of its technology infrastructure.
But it was only in May this year that the company was approached by a third party who revealed an individual in Canada was in possession of Paddy Power customer data.
The company verified that the data had come from its system and started legal proceedings in Ontario to secure possession of computer equipment owned by the person. It is not yet clear if criminal proceedings will be initiated against the individual.
In a statement, Paddy Power said: “Paddy Power takes its responsibilities regarding customer data extremely seriously and it is deeply regrettable that this breach happened. Paddy Power has engaged with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner on this issue and kept them updated on the action taken by the company.
“The historical dataset contained individual customer’s name, username, address, email address, phone contact number, date of birth and prompted question and answer. Customers’ financial information such as credit or debit card details has not been compromised and is not at risk. Account passwords have also not been compromised. Paddy Power’s account monitoring has not detected any suspicious activity to indicate that customers’ accounts have been adversely impacted in any way.”

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3 Comments on "Paddy Power admits mass data theft"

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