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Entega branch in Wiesbaden: almost 700,000 customers
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After a hacker attack on a subsidiary of the Hessian energy supplier Entega, criminals published masses of customer data on the so-called dark web.
Entega AG announced on Wednesday that it was mainly names, addresses and consumption data, but in some cases also bank details.
Personal data of employees and business partners have also been published.
The attack was directed in mid-June against a subsidiary, the IT service provider Count+Care.
The so-called critical infrastructure that Entega operates with its electricity, gas and water networks was separately protected and not affected, the energy supplier announced at the time.
The Darmstadt-based company initially assumed that the attackers had not captured any customer data.
The perpetrators allegedly demanded a ransom of $15 million
It was initially unclear how many people were affected by the criminal publication of the data.
An Entega spokesman said the majority of customers could be affected, but to varying degrees.
The investigation is still ongoing.
According to Entega's annual report, the number of customer contracts at the end of 2021 was almost 700,000.
According to the company's initial findings, bank details such as the IBAN were published in significantly less than ten percent of the cases.
According to the energy supplier, all passwords in the customer portals have been reset to prevent unauthorized access.
Entega also set up a free hotline and the website entega.de/hackerattack to provide information about the consequences of the attack.
The alleged Russian group "Black Cat" is said to be behind this.
At least investigators assume that according to dpa information.
The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office is leading the investigation.
The perpetrators are said to have installed ransomware and demanded the equivalent of $15 million in ransom.
The Hessischer Rundfunk reported that a phishing email with an infected attachment was the trigger for the attack.
The systems of the Darmstädter Bauverein and the Frankfurt utility company FES were also affected by the attack on Count+Care.
pbe/dpa