Telkom hits back against data breach

Telkom has taken legal action against a third-party company and a Telkom franchisee employee for allegedly fraudulently poaching the telecom giant’s customers. 

Telkom announced today that it has obtained and executed a court order that allowed a “search and seizure” raid on a third-party company that is alleged to have fraudulently targeted and poached some Telkom customers.

The search and seizure operation – authorised by the Gauteng High Court – was conducted on the premises of a Johannesburg-based company and the residence of a Telkom franchisee employee. 

The operation resulted in the seizure of data and records required to assist in an urgent forensic investigation to determine the extent of the unlawful activity. 

Telkom said it became aware of the fraud after a whistleblower alerted the company to fraudulent targeted customer poaching.

The implicated franchisee employee is alleged to have leaked Telkom customer data, to which he had access in the course of his job, to the third-party company, thereby enabling unlawful activities.

“The investigation identified that the third-party company unlawfully accessed the confidential Telkom information, enabling the third party to solicit customers away from Telkom,” the company said. 

“There is no indication, at this stage, that the targeted Telkom customers have suffered financial losses.” 

“Telkom regards its customers’ interests and their data of paramount importance, and on being alerted of the breach of customer information during September 2024, immediately launched an inquiry, which has now resulted in a search and seizure.”

Telkom alerted the impacted customers regarding the applicable data protection regulations as soon as the investigation process allowed. The Information Regulator was notified on 30 October 2024.

The investigation into the scale of the criminality is ongoing. Telkom said the Hawks have been informed of a criminal case, and legal action is also being taken against the alleged wrongdoers.

“Telkom has implemented various mitigation strategies and has strengthened its current data access protocols to reduce the risk of this breach being repeated,” the company said.

Telkom’s operation was empowered by an Anton Piller Order, a court order that provides the right to search premises without prior warning to seize evidence. This type of order is intended to prevent the destruction of relevant evidence.

This is not the first time an order like this has been used in South Africa’s telecommunications sector – in a remarkably similar case to Telkom’s.

In 2006, Internet Solutions (IS) obtained an Anton Piller-type order against Verizon SA and a former IS employee.

The order was obtained based on evidence that Verizon was in possession of and unlawfully using IS’s proprietary information.

IS contended that Verizon had obtained this information unlawfully through its former employee and was using it to compete unlawfully and unfairly with IS.

Around a year after the search and seize, Verizon made a settlement offer to IS, in which it would pay for, among other things, all IS’ legal costs to date.

IS accepted the settlement offer, having obtained the necessary documentation, and was happy that the matter had been finally resolved.