Telefónica Investigates 'Hack' in Movistar Affecting Customer Data

Telefónica is investigating a 'hack' in Movistar through which a cybercriminal known as 'Dedale' allegedly gained illicit access to 22 million customer records and has already leaked a database with 1 million records as proof.

It should be noted that a single customer may have numerous records (one could correspond to the full name, another to the ID, another to the address, etc.), so the impact of the 'hack' does not necessarily mean that 22 million Movistar users were affected.

On the other hand, the database with the million records leaked so far contains data of users in Peru, although it is not ruled out that in the rest of the information accessed illicitly by the cybercriminal, there may be records of customers from other countries where the company operates, such as Spain, for example.

It is worth remembering that Telefónica sold its Peruvian subsidiary, which is in bankruptcy proceedings, in mid-April for about 900,000 euros to the Argentine firm Integra Tec International.

In this context, the cybercriminal is demanding a ransom of 1,500 dollars (approximately 1,314 euros at the current exchange rate), a figure that is strikingly low compared to the amounts usually demanded in such blackmail cases.

The 'hack' on Movistar was revealed by the cybersecurity firm HackManac through the social network X, where it points out that the dataset "includes confidential details such as full names, national identification numbers (ID), mobile phone numbers, service plans, and status updates."