Govt pension fund data leak: 'This is bad. Not just sensitive financial info, but full identities'
A cyber-attack is targeting the Government Employees Pension Fund.
Hacker, ransomware, cybercrime. Image: Pixabay
Lester Kiewit speaks with Jan Vermeulen, CEO of MyBroadband.
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
A ransomware attack has compromised the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
In February, the GEPF was notified of an attempt by 'LockBit' to gain access to their systems.
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Vermeulen was tipped off about the story when someone reported struggling to get payments for pensioners out of the system.
“The Government Pensions Administration Agency has been cagey about this, so we don’t know a lot.”
- Jan Vermeulen, CEO - Mybroadband
At first, GPAA claimed nothing happened. Eventually, they admitted the attack but said that no information was taken.
Vermeulen stayed on the story and eventually found that one of the ‘most prolific’ ransomware gangs was claiming responsibility for the attack.
The gang demanded money from the GPAA and threatened to release the data onto the dark web.
“The GPAA did the right thing.”
- Jan Vermeulen, CEO - MyBroadband
Vermeulen says 668 GB of data was released onto the dark web.
“This is bad, there are passport scans… it is not just sensitive financial information, it is full identities compromised.”
- Jan Vermeulen, CEO - Mybroadband
“Even people with good security in place can fall victim to these kinds of attacks.”
- Jan Vermeulen, CEO - Mybroadband
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.