South African insurance provider QSure was struck by a major data breach earlier this month, one that led to banking information and other sensitive data being compromised. The company hasn’t said how many records were scooped during the intrusion.
Hope they have insurance for this
Company COO Ian du Toit, speaking to TechCentral, said “On 9 June 2021, QSure became aware that it had been subject to illegal and unauthorised access to its IT infrastructure, and immediately isolated its IT network and shut down its systems.”
Du Toit added, “QSure immediately appointed three industry-leading and independent cyber-forensic and security technology firms to conduct a detailed forensic investigation into the cybersecurity incident.” He pointed out that the company has notified insurers, brokers and the relevant regulators with regards to the breach.
Data collected includes “…includes banking details, limited to the account holder name, bank account numbers and bank branch codes”, while “…policyholder identity numbers, credit card details, any form of contact details, or policy content” were not accessed. So it’s not as bad as it could have been, but it’s still… less than ideal.
QSure provides services to the South African insurance industry, including collections and premium handling, so while you may not have heard of them, there’s a chance you’ve come into contact with them at some point. If you’re affiliated with Hollard in any way, you might want to check your emails for communication in this regard.
It’s not a good month for companies. If it’s not ransomware (which is arguably the better option for end-users) then it’s data breaches. This insurance hack is just the latest in a terrible month for cyber-security.