Santander hit by massive hack — "all staff" and 30 million customers affected

Data Breach
Image Credit: Shutterstock (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The recent data breach at Santander Bank affected not just millions of customers, but also all of its staff, new reports have claimed.

The banking giant recently issued a breach notification letter saying following a supply chain attack, an unauthorized third party had accessed a database with sensitive customer information. It was later discovered that the attackers stole data from Santander’s banks in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay, while the rest of the world was not affected.

Now, researchers from Dark Web Informer found the infamous ShinyHunters hacking collective selling the database on the dark web, BleepingComputer reports.

Grabbing the spotlight

As per the hackers’ sales ad, the database contains personal information of 30 million customers and employees, as well as 28 million credit card numbers, as well as 6 million account numbers and balances. The asking price is $2 million.

As usual, the sales ad came with a small sample of the data to prove the claim’s legitimacy, but so far no threat researcher could confirm, or deny, the database belonging to Santander.

BleepingComputer pointed out that as per Santander’s Q1 2024 financial report, the company has fewer than 20 million customers across Chile, Spain, and Uruguay, while ShinyHunters are claiming 30 million.

Ever since the takedown of BreachForums, and the arrest of Baphomet, ShinyHunters have been getting plenty of limelight. A few weeks back, law enforcement temporarily disrupted BreachForums, the world’s biggest underground forum for hackers. It was a place where cybercriminals shared stolen data, malware, and other warez. The police also arrested a person with the alias Baphomet, who allegedly set up and was running the forum, together with ShinyHunters.

Since Baphomet’s arrest, ShinyHunters took over, restoring the forum and making a few high-profile breaches, most likely to restore the confidence and engage in little PR. So, besides the Santander breach, ShinyHunters also targeted Ticketmaster recently, leaking sensitive information on more than 500 million users on the forums.

More from TechRadar Pro

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

Read more
Telefonica
Telefónica says it was hit by systems breach, internal data leaked online
Someone holding a passport with two boarding passes inside it
Top digital loan firm security slip-up puts data of 36 million users at risk
A man looking at a tablet with a brown Best Buy package on the desk in front of him
Huge Christmas data breach - 14 million shipping records leaked, putting shoppers at risk
Cartoon Phishing
One of the largest data leaks ever sees info on 1.5 billion people leaked online
Security
American National Insurance Company breach data found online
Data leak
Popular online bill paying site leaks data of thousands of users
Latest in Security
Hacker silhouette working on a laptop with North Korean flag on the background
North Korea unveils new military unit targeting AI attacks
An image of network security icons for a network encircling a digital blue earth.
US government warns agencies to make sure their backups are safe from NAKIVO security issue
Laptop computer displaying logo of WordPress, a free and open-source content management system (CMS)
This top WordPress plugin could be hiding a worrying security flaw, so be on your guard
Computer Hacked, System Error, Virus, Cyber attack, Malware Concept. Danger Symbol
Veeam urges users to patch security issues which could allow backup hacks
UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer
The UK releases timeline for migration to post-quantum cryptography
Representational image depecting cybersecurity protection
Cisco smart licensing system sees critical security flaws exploited
Latest in News
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Samsung's rumored smart specs may be launching before the end of 2025
Apple iPhone 16 Review
The latest iPhone 18 leak hints at a major chipset upgrade for all four models
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Monday, March 24 (game #1155)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, March 24 (game #386)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, March 24 (game #652)
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, March 23 (game #1154)