Hackers break into servers of Italian cellular company

Italy's Ho Mobile admits that it was hacked, and offers to replace the SIM cards of all of its affected customers at no cost

Hackers break into servers of Italian cellular company

Photo: Bigstock

Ho Mobile, an Italian mobile operator owned by Vodafone, took the rare step of offering to replace the SIM cards of all of its customers who were affected a massive breach of company data, which Ho Mobile confirmed on Monday. About 2.5 million customers are believed to have been impacted. The hack came to light on December 28 when a security analyst found the company's database being offered for sale on a dark web forum.

The company initially played down the initial reports but confirmed the incident on Monday, in a message posted on its website and via SMS messages sent to all affected customers. The statement confirmed the analyst's assessment that hackers breached Ho Mobile's servers and stole details on customers, including full names, home addresses, nationality, dates and places of birth, social security numbers, telephone numbers, and email addresses. The company said no call details or financial data were stolen, but it admitted that hackers gained access to details related to the SIM cards of customers.

Ho Mobile is offering replacement of the SIM cards of all impacted customers, if they want to do so, at no cost, to avoid even the slightest threat of SIM swapping attacks or telephone fraud. "You can go to one of our authorized dealers and request a SIM change free of charge, bringing your current SIM and a valid identity document with you," the company wrote on Monday.