Simba says it has ‘swiftly resolved’ data breach & taken immediate actions
More than 23,500 customers of local telecommunications firm Simba have had their personal information leaked during a data breach.
The company has “swiftly resolved” the breach and taken immediate actions, said Simba Telecom in a notice last Friday (25 Sept).
Source: Google Maps
No credit card or bank info at risk in data breach: Simba
Simba said it discovered the data breach incident last Thursday (24 Sept) and conducted investigations.
They have so far revealed that the data of 23,549 customers who registered for Simba’s services were affected in the breach, including their:
- names
- identity card (IC) numbers
- dates of birth
- mobile phone numbers
- email addresses
However, no credit card or bank account information is at risk, it noted, adding:
At this time, there is no indication that any data has been maliciously misused.
Source: Google Maps
‘Immediate & appropriate actions’ taken
Simba also maintained that it is taking the incident “seriously” and has “swiftly resolved” it.
“Immediate and appropriate actions” have also been taken to review the telco’s existing security measures.
This is in order to protect its core infrastructure and systems, it added.
Simba customers being notified of data breach
As for the affected customers, they are currently being progressively notified of the incident via email, it said.
This process should be completed within the next week.
In an earnings call on 23 Sept, Simba’s Chief Financial Officer Harry Wong said Simba had about 1.4 million mobile subscribers and 62,000 broadband subscribers.
PDPC investigating incident
Simba is also working closely with the relevant authorities on this matter, it noted.
A spokesperson from the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) told The Straits Times (ST) in response to queries that it is aware of the incident.
It is being investigated, the spokesperson added.
Source: Google Maps
Simba’s proposed takeover of M1 was scrapped
The incident comes about four months after Simba’s proposed takeover of fellow telco M1 was scrapped after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) suspended a review of the acquisition.
This was because IMDA had learnt that Simba could have been using spectrum frequency that had not been assigned to them to provide mobile services — a breach of the Telecommunications Act 1999.
In the same earnings call, Mr Tony Moffat, Company Secretary of Simba’s Australian-listed parent company Tuas Ltd., said “there was some use of spectrum that was permitted by the IMDA and we then used it outside the limitations that were in that purpose”.
The company did not have any information from the IMDA about when it is going to release an update on the investigation, he added.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
