Texas Utility CenterPoint Energy Confirms Breach After Hacker Leaks Data
CenterPoint Energy confirmed hackers stole customer personal data from an external-facing system after a forum leak of 7.5 million records.
CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based utility serving roughly 7 million customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas, told the SEC that an unauthorized third party obtained customer personal information through an external-facing system. On September 12 a hacker claimed to have stolen nearly 7.5 million records and posted a 2.5 GB archive on a cybercrime forum, threatening to attack main infrastructure next. The company says electric and gas delivery is unaffected and it expects no material impact. Earlier 2024 leak claims were attributed to Cl0p's 2023 MOVEit campaign via a third party.
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.
Leaks, data breaches, and ransom notes: The worst hacks of 2026 so far
TechCrunch's 2026 roundup covers SSA data exposure, Iranian water-utility attacks, Klue breach hitting ~200 firms, and Meta AI chatbot account hijacks.
TechCrunch's mid-year roundup highlights a whistleblower claim that DOGE uploaded a live Social Security database copy to an unsecured third-party server, which House Democrats called potentially the largest US breach in history. CISA reported Iranian hackers targeted over 100 US water providers over the summer, while Russian-linked attacks hit Polish, Swedish, and Norwegian energy and water infrastructure. Market research firm Klue was breached via a stale 2022 pilot credential, exposing cloud keys of ~200 customers including Jamf, HackerOne, and LastPass to extortion gang Icarus. Separately, tens of thousands of Instagram accounts were hijacked by abusing Meta's AI chatbot to trigger password resets to attacker-controlled emails.