Orange customers hit by hacking

COMPUTER hackers gained access to the accounts of up to 800,000 customers of Orange, it has been revealed.

The telecoms giant yesterday confirmed a report on the PCImpact website, which said that hackers gained access to personal data through the company’s website.

PCImpact reveals that, in a letter to customers, Orange said: “Orange was the target of a hacking on January 16, 2014, from the My Account page in the Customers’ section of orange.fr,” which resulted in « the possible recovery of limited personal data ».

The data may include names, home addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers, which may leave affected customers at risk of « phishing » attacks. According to PCImpact, 3% of Orange customers were affected.

An spokesman for the company said that passwords had not been compromised.

Phishing is used by criminals to con victims into supplying key personal data, including bank account details and passwords by sending emails that look as if they have come from official sources.

Those who respond to them supply their personal details, only to discover later that they have been conned.

In November, Orange CEO Stéphane Richard publicly signed a charter formalising Orange’s commitment to protecting customers’ private data. At the time, he said that data protection was a « fundamental issue » which « will become increasingly sensitive ».

He added: "Because we are an online operator, we have to guarantee to protect personal data.”

The firm has stated that it has contacted those affected by email and it has alerted the police.