Around 5,400 Singaporeans affected in AXA data breach

Mobile numbers, email addresses and birth dates of customers have been stolen in the attack.

Life insurance agency AXA has been hit by a data breach affecting thousands of clients in Singapore. The company on Thursday has informed its customers via email of the incident.

AXA's data protection officer Eric Lelyon stated that mobile numbers, email addresses and birth dates of about 5,400 customers have been stolen in the attack.

"We wish to inform you that because of a recent cyber attack, personal data belonging to about 5,400 of our customers, past and present, on our Health Portal was compromised," states Lelyon.

Also read: Over 711 million email records leaked in one of the biggest data breaches of all time

Some customers have been worried that the data breach might have exposed their names, bank card details, home and business addresses and NRIC numbers. Nevertheless, Lelyon has assured customers that no other details have been stolen, not even claims history, health or marital status.

He has further advised AXA's clients that nothing is worry about as the information that has been stolen "is not likely, on its own, expose you to identity theft".

"We wish to assure you that we take this incident very seriously. We have taken all remedial actions to secure our Health Portal and to prevent a recurrence," adds Lelyon. "We have also filed a police report and are working closely with the authorities."

Still, customers are recommended to take precautionary measures against phishing via email.

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