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- British Gas says 2,200 customers email addresses and passwords leaked
- Hackers have stolen details of 609,000 Britons in the past year alone
British Gas became the latest major company to be at the centre of a data row after thousands of customer details appeared online. The email addresses and account passwords for around 2,200 people were leaked. British Gas has insisted its systems are secure, after sending out an email to customers informing them of the incident. It said: 'I can assure you there has been no breach of our secure data storage systems, so none of your payment data, such as bank account or credit card details, have been at risk. 'As you'd expect, we encrypt and store this information securely. 'From our investigations, we are confident that the information which appeared online did not come from British Gas.'
It came as it emerged hackers have stolen the personal details of more than 609,000 people from British companies in the past year. Experts say these profiles are being sold on the 'Dark Web' and sold for around £20 each. The details of some British Gas customers have appeared online, in the third problem to affect a major UK company in a week. Details will be sent to the Information Commissioner's Office following the leak, it said. In reply to a customer's query about the incident British Gas Help posted on Twitter: 'A small number of customer details briefly appeared online but our systems are secure.' The email addresses and account passwords for around 2,200 customers appeared online, the BBC reported. The email from British Gas claimed the information had not come from the company, and said no payment data would have been at risk, the broadcaster said. On Tuesday evening Marks & Spencer had to suspend its website for two hours after customers were able to see other people's details when they logged in to their accounts...Read more bere