TSTT had to have known that there was a data breach by a company!
That’s the view of Data Protection Consultant Rishi Maharaj.
TSTT said in a statement Monday October 10 that on October 09, cyber attackers attempted to gain unauthorised access to its systems and that TSTT’s incident response processes were swiftly activated.
The local service provider condemned the actions of hackers who it said attempted to gain access to the company’s systems but insisted that no data was deleted from TSTT’s databases or manipulated.
However in a media release issued on November 3 the company admitted that information such as customers’ names, homes address, e-mail addresses and identification cards are among the information leaked and accessible to anyone and warned their customers to be vigilant and alert to potential scams and fraudulent activity.
PUBLIC Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales told the Parliament on October 26 that claims of a ransomware attack on TSTT were “not true.”
He has now directed the chairman of the Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TSTT) to hire someone independent to investigate the data breach at the company.
Maharaj told the Power Breakfast Show this morning that while most companies are only aware of a data breach after the fact, when they do become aware of the issue certain best practices must be executed.
He said there are several things that affected customers should do.
He said consumers need to be wary of emails and SMS messages insisting they click on a link, also they need to ensure that they update their devices.