● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 negative
Southern Company Reports Data Breach Affecting 400,000 Utility Customer Accounts
Key points
- 400,000 customer accounts affected across Georgia Power and Alabama Power.
- Data accessed includes name, address, phone, email, or last 4 digits of SSN.
- Bank account numbers and payment card information were not accessed.
- Impacted customers are offered one year of free credit monitoring.
Unauthorized Access to Customer Portal
Southern Company, an energy holding company, has disclosed a data breach impacting approximately 400,000 customer accounts. An unauthorized third party gained access to customer information via the company's online customer portal. Upon detection, Southern Company took steps to stop the activity and engaged law enforcement.
Affected Subsidiaries and Data Types
The breach primarily affected customers of Georgia Power, with roughly 300,000 accounts compromised, and Alabama Power, impacting about 100,000 of its 1.6 million accounts. While Mississippi Power was named in the public notice, specific figures for its customers were not released. The accessed data includes customer names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, or the last four digits of their Social Security Numbers, and other basic account details. The company confirmed that bank account numbers, payment card numbers, or driver's license numbers were not accessed.
Customer Notification and Mitigation
Southern Company is notifying all impacted customers through mail and email. As a measure to protect affected individuals, the company is offering one year of free credit monitoring services. The company has not yet disclosed the date of the intrusion or the method used by the attacker to gain access to the portal.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Southern Company announced that an unauthorized third party accessed account information for approximately 400,000 customers of its Georgia Power and Alabama Power subsidiaries through its online customer portal. The breach exposed names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, emails, or the last four digits of Social Security Numbers, and other basic account details, but not bank or payment card information.