Santander Reports Data Breach At Third-Party Service Provider

Santander has reported that some employee and customer data in its database hosted by a third-party provider was breached by an unauthorized party. However, the Spanish bank announced that this breach did not affect its systems and operations.

The bank noted in an announcement that the data was provided by those customers residing in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay, and also a few old and current employees. No key information on transactions or credentials was kept in the database. This has prevented the unauthorized party from completing any transaction.

In other businesses and markets, their customer’s data were not affected, Santander stated, adding that users can continue performing daily transactions without any fear.

Santander Has Provided Extra Fraud Prevention Controls For Affected Clients

Santander is the second-largest bank in the eurozone region by market value. It revealed that it took quick action to control the incident. It has blocked the access to the database that was compromised. Without saying much about how the database breach happened, the bank said it has provided extra fraud prevention controls to safeguard the affected customers.

The bank did not reveal how many customers had been affected. However, it plans to assist the affected customers. It has contacted law enforcement agents and regulators and will keep working with them while directly contacting those affected.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund stated that the increasing cyber threats are something to be concerned about. It also noted that issues faced in the financial industry could reduce confidence in the financial system, create spillovers to other establishments, or disrupt critical services.

The ECB Alarms Lenders On The Upcoming Cyberattack Threats

The European Central Bank spoke to lenders in March to get ready to battle threats associated with cyberattacks. Earlier this year, it revealed that it would carry out a cyber resilience assessment on about 109 banks under direct supervision in 2024.

The exercise would check how banks deal with and bounce back from a cyberattack, instead of focusing on their ability to stop it.

Banco Santander is dedicated to providing its banking services to individuals, businesses, and organizations. It operates in several regions, including South America, North America, Europe, and the Santander Global Platform.

The Europe sector consists of business activities in Europe. The North American segment covers business activities in the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, Its South America segment comprises of financial operations of the Group via its banks and affiliated branches in South America.

The Santander Global Platform sector operates on global payments services, digital assets, and digital bank.