EasyPark data breach exposes millions of users to cyber threats

Swedish parking app developer EasyPark disclosed a significant data breach on December 10, 2023, affecting an unspecified number of its millions of users.

EasyPark, renowned for its mobile and web apps providing services such as parking locators, booking managers, and EV charging point finders, operates in about 20 countries and over 4,000 cities in Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

The breach is comparable to the 2021 incident involving ParkMobile, a subsidiary of EasyPark, raising concerns about the security of the company’s users’ data. ParkMobile had previously suffered a massive data breach exposing the information of 21 million customers, a database that appeared on a hacking forum.

While the affected company has remained silent about the specifics of the recent breach, a company representative confirmed that some European users, primarily EasyPark app users, have suffered some consequences.

 

EasyPark users could face potential threats, such as phishing, due to the nature of compromised data.

 

The confirmed compromised information in the EasyPark data breach includes users’ names, phone numbers, physical addresses, email addresses, and partial credit card/debit card or IBAN details.

Still, EasyPark assures users that the breached data does not allow unauthorised individuals to execute illicit transactions. However, the exposed information could fuel phishing attacks, a risk which the company highlighted in their breach notice.

Affected users could receive personalised notifications via various channels, such as in-app messages, push notifications, email, and SMS. Fortunately, users can check if they suffer from this incident by opening the app and following the instructions in the data breach notice.

As of now, the EasyPark app remains operational, with the company’s security team actively implementing additional security and privacy measures to mitigate the incident’s adverse effects. The company has also notified the data protection authorities in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland about the breach.

No ransomware group has been responsible for the attack, and other hackers are now scouring hacking forums to locate the stolen data. As a precautionary measure, EasyPark recommends all users change their account passwords on the EasyPark app and any other platforms where they may use similar credentials.