Georgia Power is notifying customers after unauthorized access to its online customer portal exposed personal account information.
The company says roughly 300,000 Georgia Power customers were affected, while about 400,000 accounts were involved across parent company Southern Company. CBS Atlanta reported the company recently detected suspicious third-party activity.
What information was exposed
Georgia Power says the accessed information may include customer names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
The utility says bank-account numbers, payment-card details and driver’s-license numbers were not exposed through the incident.
Customers are being contacted
Georgia Power has been sending notices to affected customers and says it is investigating how the unauthorized access occurred.
Customers receiving a notice should treat unexpected account-reset messages, payment requests and emails asking for additional personal information cautiously. The company has not said that every customer account was affected.
The next update will be whether the investigation identifies the method of access and whether Georgia Power announces additional security steps or customer protections.
