German Banks impacted by Data Theft
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Several German banks are facing a data breach where hackers have stolen the personal information of thousands fo customers. The attack was executed at an external account-changing service called Kontowechsel24.
The exposed data inlcudes:
- first and last names
- Iban numbers,
The data theft came to light after an unknown number of customer data was reported to have been compromised at Deutsche Bank and Postbank. The incident has now spread to other banks, including ING Deutschland and Commerzbank subsidiary Comdirect.
The breach specifically affects customers who utilized an account switching service between 2016 and 2020. While the criminals had no direct access to the accounts of those affected, they could carry out unauthorized direct debits by using the Ibans and names of the account holders.
The stolen data could also be used for fraudulent activities like social engineering, phishing and credential theft.
In Germany, financial institutions are required by a 2016 law to support customers in switching accounts. The new bank must accept incoming and outgoing transfers and direct debits from the old account within twelve business days.
