Around 38,000 contractors have reportedly been affected by a massive data leak from the hardware chain Total Tools.
The leak was carried out by professional hackers, and the company, which is owned by Metcash, discovered the issue earlier this week.
In response to the incident, the company contacted its customers and told them about the steps they can take to protect their sensitive data.
Richard Murray, the company’s chief executive, confirmed the issue but noted that the cause of the leak had been resolved.
Although the data of the company’s customers was illegally accessed, Mr. Murray noted that the company was confident that the incident had been resolved.
The hackers were able to steal the names, email addresses, and shipping address of customers who used the company’s website recently.
He also noted that the company was working with a cybersecurity and forensic expert to prevent the unauthorized access to their data.
In response to the incident, the company contacted its customers and told them about the steps they can take to protect their sensitive data.
The company also implemented various cybersecurity measures to prevent the unauthorized access to their data from happening again.
The website of Total Tools was temporarily shut down on Thursday due to an issue with its pricing system. The incident is not related to the massive data leak.
According to a report released earlier this week, Australia has experienced its worst data breach in almost four years.
The report noted that the country’s information commissioner has urged the government to implement more effective measures to protect the data of its citizens.
During the six months that ended in June 2024, the number of breaches increased by nine percent.
A report by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner revealed that there were over 500 data breaches that occurred between January and June of this year.
The number of notifications made about the incidents during this period is the highest since December 2020.
