One of Australia’s largest energy providers has been hit by a “cyber incident” as a wave of data breaches impact big companies across the nation.
AGL reported “elevated levels of suspicious activity” on its “My Account” platform on December 1.
9News understood a small percentage of customers – about 6000 – have been impacted.
“Based on current analysis it appears malicious actors have used stolen credentials acquired externally (such as usernames and passwords used elsewhere by customers) to log into a number of customer accounts,” AGL said in a statement.
“We have communicated to potentially affected customers regarding the suspicious activity and to alert them to unusual activity on their account.
“As a precautionary measure, we have also placed a lock on these accounts while the incident is being investigated.”
AGL said once a customer’s account is unlocked they will need to reset their password.
The energy provider also said all customers with an email address attached to their account are being notified of the suspicious activity.
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One customer told 9News.com.au they hadn’t received any communications from AGL but when they called support services they were told the company locked all accounts due to the cyber incident.
But AGL told 9News.com.au that communications have been sent via post given the cyber incident has impacted email addresses.
The federal government and relevant cyber security bodies have been notified of the incident.
All customers have been urged to use strong passwords and turn on two-factor authentication.
AGL provides energy and internet services to 4.2 million customers across Australia.
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