Electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy warns of data breach after dark web post
CenterPoint Energy confirmed hackers stole customer personal data from an external-facing system after a dark web post claimed 7.5 million records.
Texas utility CenterPoint Energy filed an SEC 8-K disclosing that a dark web post claimed to sell data stolen from the company, and an investigation confirmed personal information was taken from an external-facing system. The criminal post claims about 7.5 million records including customer names, account information, last four Social Security digits and billing data. Electric and gas service was not impacted; the company serves 7 million customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas, and previously disclosed a 2023 breach via a file-sharing platform.
- SEC 8-K filed after dark web post claimed stolen CenterPoint data
- Post claims 7.5 million records with names, SSN digits, billing data
- Data taken from an external-facing system; energy delivery unaffected
- Second disclosed breach after a 2023 file-transfer platform incident
Full article287 words · extracted from therecord.media · click to collapse
Texas-based electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy told regulators that hackers obtained personal information from its systems during a recent data breach. The company filed an 8-K form with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday evening confirming that it became aware of a dark web post this month claiming to offer data stolen from CenterPoint Energy. CenterPoint Energy said the delivery of electric and gas services has not been impacted by the incident. But an investigation into the claims revealed that hackers did obtain “personal information relating to a portion of the Company’s customers through one of the Company’s external facing systems.” A spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy declined to answer other questions about the cybercriminal post, which includes claims that about 7.5 million records were stolen and contained customer names, account information, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, billing information and more. “The Company is continuing to work with third-party experts to determine the scope of customers and personal information affected by the Incident and intends to notify affected customers and regulatory authorities as required by applicable law,” CenterPoint Energy said. The Houston-based company said it reported the incident to law enforcement in addition to the regulatory filing. The filing says CenterPoint Energy will incur some costs related to the investigation but the incident is not likely to have a material impact on the company’s finances. CenterPoint Energy reported a net income of $244 million in the second quarter and provides power and natural gas to 7 million customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. Last year, the company announced that it was investigating another data breach related to a 2023 incident where hackers stole customer information through a popular file sharing platform.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://therecord.media/centerpoint-energy-data-breach