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Australia’s most prominent charity dedicated to children, ‘The Smith Family, has become the latest target of a cyberattack after the charity detected a data breach earlier this October. As per reports, the breach could compromise the sensitive information of its sponsors and donors, including personal details and credit card numbers.
The hackers were able to access some information about the charity donors, including their names, email addresses, contact information, and some credit card information. However, the attack was stopped before it could steal the charity funds or do any more damage.
The Smith Family hit by cyberattack from unknown TA
In a Tweet shared by The Smith Family today, the charity stated that “The Smith Family recently experienced a cyber incident where a team member’s email account was temporarily accessed in an attempt to steal funds. To all of our valued donors and sponsors, we want to reassure you that we acted promptly, and the attempts were unsuccessful. There is no current evidence of misuse of any individual supporter’s personal information.”
Apart from contacting the affected donors, The Smith Family would be reaching out to every sponsor even if their information was not leaked in the recent cyberattack. Those affected by the leak can visit the charity’s official website for more details and information.
Besides big corporations and government authorities that are the regular target of hackers, charity organizations are one of the latest interests of cybercriminals. The recent campaign that took advantage of charities on Veteran’s Day is the perfect example of why every industry should prepare for better security measures.
Moreover, Australia has become an area of interest to hackers, and industries in the country have suffered multiple attacks throughout 2022, making Oceania the new hub of hacker activity. The Australian Minister for Cyber Security shared her concern over the growing threat in the nation and has assured its citizens that they are working towards overcoming these hacking campaigns.
Whether it’s cyber security or fixing our migration system, we’re only going to be able to rise to these challenges if industry, govt & the community work together. There’s a lot to do, but I’m so excited”, Clare O’Neil, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, Australia.
