Australian Children’s Charity exposed to cyberattack
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The Smith Family releases notice to donors and supporters regarding a cyber incident where a third party attempted to steal the organisation’s funds.
The charity focused on helping children overcome educational inequality caused by poverty and stated that the attempt was made through a Smith Family team member’s email account that was temporarily accessed by an unauthorised third party.
Upon the organisation’s investigation, it was revealed that although the attempt to steal funds from The Smith Family was unsuccessful, the hacker succeeded in obtaining a few donors’ and supporters’ personal information.
Information regarding successful and declined donations, along with the first 4 and last 4 digits of the credit or debit card used to donate was also obtained.
“The Smith Family can confirm no middle digits, expiry date or CVV numbers were accessed as The Smith Family does not store that information in its systems,” said CEO Doug Taylor.
Related: Featured CEO: The Smith Family CEO Doug Taylor on improving the lives of children through education
The Charity highlighted that there is no current evidence of misuse of any individual’s personal information.
“We are informing individuals about the incident and providing simple steps to protect their information and avoid any potential scams.”
CEO Doug Taylor has confirmed that The Smith Family has taken steps to strengthen and secure its systems to avoid future cyberattacks.
“We are committed to protecting the personal information of all our supporters and we apologise for any inconvenience or stress that notification of this incident may have caused,” he added.
Charities and organisations are warned to be more vigilant with cyberattacks and charity scams on the rise.
Related: First Nations Foundation combats scammers targeting Indigenous Australians
Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.
