SEC Confirms Data Breach Involving Platform Users, Notifies Privacy Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed Monday that personal information belonging to registered users of its online platforms has been compromised, prompting the corporate regulator to formally report the incident to the National Privacy Commission.
In notifications sent directly to affected account holders on Nov. 9, the commission stated that the exposed information includes full names, usernames, email addresses, mobile numbers, dates of birth, genders, physical addresses and Tax Identification Numbers.
The regulator said an internal assessment determined that passwords stored in its databases were not leaked, corporate filings were unaffected and system data was neither altered nor destroyed. (Read More: Scams: Common Traps and How to Protect Your Digital Assets)
According to the commission, the leak may have originated from malware infections or unauthorized third-party access targeting individual devices used to log into its online portals. (Read More: SEC Crypto and Investment Watchlist)
“Ongoing investigations are verifying the origin, scope, and validity of the potentially leaked dataset,” the regulator said in the breach notice, adding that it has reinforced access controls, updated authentication credentials and conducted infrastructure-wide security scans.
The agency advised affected users to change passwords across any services sharing the same credentials, enable multifactor authentication, run security scans on their personal devices and monitor accounts for fraudulent communications or unauthorized transactions. The commission added that it does not request passwords or security PINs. (Read More: How to Report a Crypto or Investment Scam)
The direct notices follow a preliminary advisory released on Nov. 7, when the regulator first acknowledged investigating online reports from Nov. 6 that alleged a database linked to the agency had been leaked.
The commission directed inquiries regarding the breach to Data Protection Officer Oliver V. Chato at its headquarters in Makati City.
Disclosure: AI is used to assist in developing this article.
This article is published on BitPinas: SEC Confirms Data Breach Involving Platform Users, Notifies Privacy Commission
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