UK employee data exposed in Santander data breach

Legal Director Christine Sabino discusses the details of the Santander data breach, including who has been affected and what steps potential victims can take to claim compensation.

Santander has confirmed that they have been subject to a cyber-attack, resulting in a data breach which has affected employees and up to 30 million customers worldwide.

The bank has noted that UK customer data has not been affected or lost in the attack. However, it has been confirmed that all current UK employees, of which there are around 20,000, and some former employees have been affected.

The hacker group ShinyHunters have claimed responsibility for the hack, having posted an advert on the dark web stating that they had secured data including:

• • 30 million people’s bank account details
  • 6 million account numbers and balances
  • 28 million credit card numbers

• HR information for staff

Dark Web Informer, independent researchers who expose threat alerts and data breaches, has warned that ShinyHunters is allegedly selling access to Santander’s database £1.6 million to a ‘one-time’ buyer.

ShinyHunters were also responsible for the recent Ticketmaster data breach, which affected over half a billion Ticketmaster customers worldwide.

If you are a Santander employee based in the UK and need advice on your position, the team at Hayes Connor can help.

We are one of the country’s leading teams of data breach experts and will be on hand to advise you on the most appropriate steps you can take for your individual circumstances.

To find out more and to receive timely advice about your situation, please fill in our online claim form.

What to do if you are concerned about the Santander data breach

Organisations which handle any form of personal data are obligated to keep it secure. This means that even if an organisation is subject to an attack from a third party, resulting in data being breached, it will ultimately be held responsible.

If you are a UK Santander employee, you should be informed if your data has been compromised. If you have any concerns that your data has been exposed but you have received no correspondence, you should get in touch with them as soon as possible to discuss your situation.

As appears to be the case in the Santander data breach, stolen data is often sold on the dark web, or can be used directly against you. If you are affected by a data breach, it is important to be wary of any phishing attacks which are designed to extract further personal information from you.

There are several steps you can take to prevent someone from using your personal data against you. To learn more about this, please read our helpful guide on what you do if your data has been stolen in a data breach.

If your data has been exposed in the Santander data breach, you should be aware of the legal options that may be available to you. This is where the expertise of our dedicated data breach solicitors will prove essential.

How Hayes Connor can help UK employees affected by the Santander data breach

If a data breach leads to personal information falling into the wrong hands, the potential consequences can be severe.

At Hayes Connor, we have previously supported individuals affected by various data breaches, so we are well aware of the damage they can cause. We have one of the largest teams of data breach specialists in the country, with a wealth of combined experience and expertise in supporting victims of all forms of data breaches.

When you make a data breach enquiry with our team, we will work closely with you to clarify your situation and how you have been affected by the incident in question. This will give us the information we need to advise you on whether it will be possible to make a data breach claim and what the process for doing so will involve.

We know that discovering you have been subject to a data breach can be incredibly distressing. As such, we always make sure to provide close personal support and to keep the claims process as straightforward as possible.

You can find out more about our expertise and how we handle data breach claims here.

To speak to a member of our team about the Santander data breach, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0330 041 5133, or use our online claim form.