CenterPoint Energy Data Breach Exposes Personal Data of Over 1 Million Texans

Data Breach Confirmed

CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based public utility, has confirmed a data breach impacting over 1 million individuals. The company notified Texan authorities that personal information belonging to 1,062,060 state residents was compromised. This disclosure followed an earlier SEC filing where CenterPoint Energy acknowledged customer data theft from its systems.

Timeline of Events

The utility learned of the data breach after a hacker publicly claimed to have obtained nearly 7.5 million user records from CenterPoint Energy on a cybercrime forum. Days before the company's initial disclosure, the hacker made a 2.5-gigabyte archive available for download, allegedly containing approximately 3 million phone numbers and other personal information. CenterPoint Energy stated that only a portion of its customers were affected and that the incident did not impact its operations.

Compromised Information and Notifications

The compromised data includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers. As of the report, CenterPoint Energy has not sent notification letters to the impacted individuals. While the current notification focuses on Texans, CenterPoint Energy also serves customers in Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio, suggesting potential broader impact that remains unclear.