Personal and financial data of some 270,000 customers of UK payday loan firm Wonga have likely been pilfered Attack.Databreach in a data breach Attack.Databreach . The data that was accessed Attack.Databreach by the attackers includes the name , e-mail address , home address , and phone number of around 245,000 customers in the UK and 25,000 customers in Poland , as well as the last four digits of their payment card number and/or their bank account number and sort code . “ We do not believe your Wonga account password was compromised Attack.Databreach and believe your [ loan ] account should be secure , however if you are concerned you should change your account password . We also recommend that you look out for any unusual activity across any bank accounts and online portals , ” the company advised users . “ We will be alerting financial institutions about this issue and any individuals impacted as soon as possible , but we recommend that you also contact your bank and ask them to look out for any suspicious activity. ” They ’ ve also warned users to be on the lookout for scammers looking to leverage the stolen information to gain more information or money directly from the users . According to the BBC , the company noticed that something was amiss last week , but it took them until Friday to discover that customer data may have been compromised Attack.Databreach . The company started to inform customers of the breach Attack.Databreach on Saturday . “ Wonga ’ s stock with the general public has never been particularly high , but this breach will see it fall even further . It is simply the latest name in a long list of data breach victims that will come to realise that the reputational impact of a breach is more damaging than anything the ICO can do to them , or the cybercriminals themselves for that matter , ” commented Marc Agnew , Vice President , ViaSat Europe . “ The stakes are so high that organisations need to treat cyber-attack not only as a threat , but as an inevitability . Organisations must therefore ensure that all customer data is encrypted , not just the passwords and card details , so that any stolen data is essentially worthless . Inadequately protecting customer data can create massive problems for enterprises and consumers alike . Reacting to an attack appropriately is vital ; from isolating and identifying the origin , to taking stock of what has been stolen Attack.Databreach or affected and making sure those who have been put at risk are notified and protected as soon as possible . By the looks of it , Wonga ’ s customers were alerted in a timely manner and should be well informed enough to take action . This is all Wonga can do at this stage , but it ’ ll be interesting to see what happens next and how serious an attack this turns out to be. ” “ While the organisation has stated that affected customers are unlikely to be at risk of theft , the fact remains that private personal information was compromised Attack.Databreach – posing a risk to customers , ” André Stewart , VP EMEA at Netskope , pointed out . “ Data loss prevention needs to be a key priority for all businesses . The EU General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) – set to come into effect in just over a year – will hold organisations accountable for their data practices . As a result , companies will be forced to take active measures to mitigate any threats to personal privacy , whether that data is stored on-premises or in the cloud . Any companies falling short of these standards could face hefty fines , ” he also noted .