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ABSA has laid criminal charges against the employee behind the data breach that resulted in clients’ personal information being leaked to third parties.
“Absa has brought criminal charges against the employee, and internally the requisite consequence management has been undertaken. Absa may take further action in relation to the recipients of the data once the full scope of the leak is identified and all investigations are completed,” said the bank in a statement.
According to the bank, an employee unlawfully made customer data available to external parties.
Absa warned the affected clients through an email on November 30 which informed them their personal information had been shared with external parties.
Absa said a “small portion” of clients’ personal information was leaked, but investigations would continue.
The personal information of clients that was shared with third parties includes identity numbers, account numbers, contact details and physical address.
The bank also secured an order from the High Court to carry out search and seizure operations and secured the devices that contained the data.
According to Absa, the data on the devices was destroyed.
The bank said it would contact customers who were affected by the data breach about potentially suspicious transactions.
It has also enhanced the monitoring of customer accounts that have been affected to date as well as put in place additional control measures to minimise the risk of re-occurrence in future.