Data of 70,000 customers of Belgian virtual telecom operators leaked

Due to a data breach at Effortel, personal information of 70,000 customers of three Belgian mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) has been exfiltrated.

Effortel is a so-called mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) that acts as a middleman between telecom companies that own a physical network, like Proximus, and virtual telecom providers, like Neibo.

Effortel has developed a software platform that enables companies to operate as an MVNO on a telecom operator’s physical network, without having to own a lot of technical expertise. Today, Effortel offers services like invoicing and connecting SIM cards to customers to over 30 MVNOs in numerous countries.

Laurent Bataille, General Manager at Effortel, says the breach occurred during a testing phase of the implementation of a central database.

“We have to pass on certain customer data in the system, for example, for the emergency services. For this integration, we performed tests and generated files with customer data that unfortunately leaked. A hacker managed to penetrate the support portal between the MVNOs and Telfort and thus gain access to those files,” Bataille explains to Belgian news outlet DataNews.

Because of this, personal data of 70,000 customers of Carrefour Mobile, Neibo, and Undo have been exfiltrated. Personal information such as names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, residential addresses, passport numbers, subscriber numbers, and technical identification data like SIM card numbers has been breached.

“60 to 65 percent of end customers confirm their identity via an online payment. No identity data is stored for them. There is a payment ID, but these are figures that can only be linked to personal data via the payment provider,” Bataille ads.

The General Manager encourages affected customers to be aware of any phishing attempts. Scammers could send messages that appear authentic in the hopes of tricking victims more easily.

Last month, Carrefour Mobile reported that the personal information of 64,000 customers was stolen.

Undo, an MVNO of Effortel, warned customers three weeks ago that it had become the victim of a cyberattack and that personal information had been exfiltrated by an unauthorized party.