(Reuters) – Shell Plc said on Friday that it has identified a cyber security incident involving some employees who worked with the company’s unit BG Group in Australia, before the merger, becoming the latest victim of the MOVEit hack.
A number of businesses globally have lately been affected by a cyber security breach on the software tool MOVEit that is typically used to transfer large amounts of often sensitive data including pension information and social security numbers.
Shell has identified some personal information related to the affected individuals that was accessed without any authorization and has made attempts to notify them of the breach.
“The data is from 2013 and although it is historic and some of it may be out of date, there is a risk to impacted individuals of identity theft and being targeted by phishing campaigns,” Shell said in a statement.
Shell did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment to clarify the exact number of individuals impacted in the cyber security incident.
The company completed its $70 billion takeover of BG Group Plc in 2016, bringing into its portfolio multiple oil and gas projects across countries like Brazil and Australia.
The incident is the latest among a string of rising security breaches seen in corporate Australia since late last year, which led the government to reform security rules in place and even set up an agency to oversee government investment in the field.
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
