, after admitting over the weekend “ there may have been illegal and unauthorized accessAttack.Databreach” to customers ’ personal details . The firm was tight-lipped on how many customers might have been affected , although reports suggest it is in the region of 270,000 , most of whom are based in the UK . The short-term loans company , which charges customers over 1200 % APR , was also short on details and hedged its bets somewhat as to the cause . The firm claimed in an FAQ on the incident that it is still trying to establish the details and contact those affected . What we do know is that customer names , e-mail addresses , home addresses and phone numbers may have been compromisedAttack.Databreach, along with the last four digits of their card number and/or bank account number and sort code . It added : “ We do not believe your Wonga account password was compromisedAttack.Databreachand believe your 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 ” . Wonga also advised customers to be on the lookout for follow-up scams , both online and over the phone . The kind of information that appears to have been compromisedAttack.Databreachwould certainly provide seasoned fraudsters with enough to socially engineer targets into divulging more details such as their full card numbers . This is just the latest in a long line of breaches at big-name companies . Data from over 130,000 customers of network operator Three was illegally obtainedAttack.Databreachby fraudsters back in November . The impact to brand and reputation can be a serious blow to breached organizations . TalkTalk is said to have lost 100,000 customers and £60m as a result of a breach at the ISP . André Stewart , EMEA vice-president at Netskope , argued that coming European privacy laws will force organizations to be more 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 explained . “ Alongside demonstrating that they have coached employees on the GDPR and secure data handling , employers will also need to provide staff with the tools to do their jobs securely without sacrificing ease and convenience ” . Kevin Cunningham , president of SailPoint , added that staff from the board down need to be well-drilled in order to help protect sensitive customer information . “ In today ’ s market , it ’ s a matter of when , not if , a data breachAttack.Databreachwill happen . So the most important factors are prevention , education , and rapid response , ” he argued . “ When a breach does happen , it ’ s important to quickly find out how and why it occurred , assess the damage and required response , and put IT controls in place to address future attacks ”