Just 13 – no, er, make that 3,200 punters hit in Oz's Perth Mint hack

Unnamed third-party provider spaffed customer data

A computer security breach at Perth Mint first thought to have affected just 13 customers turned out to be more widespread – with more than 3,000 punters now screwed over by hackers.

Last week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported barely more than two handfuls of users of the mint's online repository were hit in the cyber-break-in.

The Western Australian-government-owned Perth Mint is Oz's bullion mint, and its repository is the customers buy-and-sell trading platform for precious metals.

The organisation launched an investigation into the network intrusion, and as part of that, CEO Richard Hayes yesterday announced the security breach involved 3,200 customers.

Hayes' announcement stated: “As previously advised, ongoing forensic investigations continue and we were made aware of this development over the weekend. We have moved quickly to contact the affected Depository Online customers in order to protect their interests.“

Hayes attributed the security failings to a third party provider, and said the mint's internal systems have not been compromised.

Affected customers had their personal information breached, the mint said, but “we have again assured our customers that their investments are unaffected and remain safe and secure”.

The mint also said it believes it's now identified the full scope of the breach, with Hayes saying he was “confident that no data belonging to any other investors or customers had been accessed”.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Western Australian Police, and the Australian Federal Police have been notified.

One punter told Vulture South that users' entire profiles leaked, and that the mint is advising those affected to look for suspect transactions in their bank accounts. We have asked the mint for confirmation. ®