DeltaWonen is the victim of a "digital burglary. In doing so, the attackers had access to the personal data of (former) tenants, suppliers and employees. The housing corporation has reported the incident to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. This writes deltaWonen in a press statement.
The burglary took place on Tuesday, March 15. According to the housing corporation, the burglars had access to the personal data of (former) tenants, (former) suppliers and (former) employees. The FAQ page on the digital burglary states contact data such as name, address, place of residence and e-mail address may have been accessed. In addition to contact data, financial data of (former) tenants that they provided when contacting deltaWonen may also have been viewed.
DeltaWonen assures that no passwords were captured: in fact, the housing corporation does not store passwords. However, the landlord does advise to be alert for suspicious text messages, emails and phone calls. "If your contact information gets into the hands of criminals, they may try to get a password or PIN from you. For example, they might send fake e-mails or text messages. Or they call you and pretend to be someone else. By doing so, they try to get more information, such as passwords. By paying attention, you can prevent a lot of damage yourself," says deltaWonen.
The housing corporation says it is "very sorry" that it happened and apologizes to anyone who was inconvenienced than the break-in. The data breach has been reported to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. The landlord says it has done its best to inform everyone involved. "But because it also involves old data, we may no longer have up-to-date contact information for everyone. We hope to still reach them with this message."
Many details about the digital intrusion are unknown. How the perpetrators managed to penetrate the housing association's systems, whether personal data was also stolen and whether a ransom was demanded by the attackers are some of the questions that remain unanswered.
RTV Oost claims that the personal data of 15,000 tenants have ended up on the street. In a response, deltaWonen informs us that the number is correct, but that research shows that no data are "on the streets. Whether personal and contact information was actually copied or stolen by the perpetrators cannot be ruled out by the housing corporation.
DeltaWonen confirms that the attackers did not ask for a ransom, or threaten to disclose data. How the perpetrators managed to infiltrate the systems and what additional security measures the corporation took are not being commented on.
To avoid falling victim to shrewd hackers or cybercriminals, it is good to be alert. Always check the sender of an e-mail address. Do not open emails from unknown senders, especially if they contain an attachment. Also, do not simply click on a link in an e-mail or text message: there is a chance that you will be redirected to a rogue web page and will have to enter your login or other privacy-sensitive data there. Cybercriminals who try to capture personal data in this way are guilty of phishing.
Not expecting a call from your bank or other authorities? Then never just give out your details, such as your bank account number, PIN, password or BSN. Don't trust the situation? Then hang up or call the agency again to ask for clarification. Do you suspect identity theft or other fraud? If so, contact the Fraud Help Desk. They can help you further along the way.
