Data breach at KBC Securities Services: financial information leaked to thousands of customers

KBC Securities Services mistakenly sent the positions of thousands of customers to third parties for whom the information was not intended.

KBC Securities Services is a subsidiary of KBC Bank that provides securities services to asset managers, private banks, major investors, and family offices.

About 5,000 bank and insurance company customers have received financial information that was intended for other customers. As a result, a lot of sensitive data ended up in the wrong hands.

“I had no trouble identifying the people involved online. One of them is a shareholder in a well-known company. His portfolio value isn’t small,” one of the people involved told Belgian news outlet De Tijd.

KBC Securities Services has acknowledged the data breach, which was most likely caused by an external employee.

“Due to a human error with an external service provider, a limited number of customers received a document that was intended for another customer. This incident has consequences for around 5,000 customers. The protection of the personal data of our customers is one of the biggest priorities,” KBC said in response to the incident.

A data breach like this can result in a hefty fine that can amount to up to €20 million, or 4% of KBC’s global annual turnover. Experts don’t expect that the company will receive a huge fine, but the damage to the bank’s reputation is considerable. Some customers may take legal action and go to court, an expert told De Tijd.

KBC Securities Services won’t give any more details about the incident. The bank did say it has taken measures to prevent recurrence.