Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Spark warns 21,000 customers that their details are for sale on the dark web

Chris Keall
By Chris Keall
Technology Editor/Senior Business Writer·NZ Herald·
20 Sep, 2018 11:43 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The dark web is a section of the internet where illegal goods are often trafficked. Photo / 123RF
The dark web is a section of the internet where illegal goods are often trafficked. Photo / 123RF

The dark web is a section of the internet where illegal goods are often trafficked. Photo / 123RF

Spark has sent around 21,000 customers a warning that their details are on a list of stolen logins for sale on the dark web - a section of the internet where illegal goods are often trafficked.

Spokeswoman Ellie Cross emphasises that there has not been a data breach at Spark.

Rather, it appears that some customers have used the same user name and logon for other services, which have been hacked.

Spark does not know the source, or sources, for the list of logins up for sale, but the telco notes there have been a number of major data breaches over the past couple of years. It names LinkedIn and Yahoo (the former provider for Spark's Xtra Mail). Sony and Ticketmaster are among others to have lost customer data en masse.

Cross says the 21,000 affected accounts represent "a small subset" of the 1.7 million total accounts at the telco.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She says the telco is taking a proactive step to make sure its customers don't have their Spark accounts compromised thanks to breaches at other services.

"While we know that it's unsettling to receive emails like this, we'd always prefer to take steps to protect our customers and advise them of the steps they need to take to look after their own online security," she says.

The telco emailed a number of customers on Tuesday after it noticed suspicious activity on their accounts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The telco forced password reset on all of the affected accounts.

However, in some cases, it could have been after the horse had bolted.

The Tuesday email read, "Our systems have detected a suspicious sign-in to your MySpark account. The parties involved. May have been able to view information in your account such as your name, Spark phone number(s), billing history, calling information and data usage information."

Spark also advises people to check if their credentials are for sale on the net via haveibeenpwned.com.

The telco warns in its email that stolen credentials are not just used for gaining access to accounts.

"Unfortunately, fraudsters are always looking for opportunities to use information they can access illegitimately using your stolen credentials to send you fraudulent emails and requests for money. For example, they can create fake invoices that may look like a bill you would be expecting but with different bank payment details," it says.

Cross says while 21,000 customers had their names up for grabs on the dark web, suspicious activity was noted on fewer than 50 accounts.

"It looks like a hacker had been in [each] account, but no actions were taken that would cause the customer any financial loss," she says.

A refresh of the Privacy Act, currently making its way through Parliament, will make it compulsory for companies to report a data breach to affected customers.

Cross says, "If someone chooses to use log-in details that are easy to guess, that they use for multiple websites or are passwords they have used in the past, they leave themselves at risk. It's extremely important that these customers update their password to something they haven't used before – or on any other website. They should also change their password for any other websites where they have been using the same combination of email address and password."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sign up to the NZ Herald Business page on Facebook for latest news, commentary, data and analysis​

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Rebuild of bridge destroyed by cyclone comes in millions under budget

30 Jun 04:42 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Helping homeless men: New Napier night shelter opens just in time for winter

30 Jun 04:22 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

On The Up: Hawke’s Bay Cancer Society opens retreat for free therapy sessions

30 Jun 02:41 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Butter shock: 500g tub costs more than $18 in Auckland grocery store
New Zealand

Butter shock: 500g tub costs more than $18 in Auckland grocery store

30 Jun 08:18 AM
Government tops up $75 a week flagship tax promise, now reaches ‘thousands’ more
Politics

Government tops up $75 a week flagship tax promise, now reaches ‘thousands’ more

30 Jun 08:06 AM
Exploitation scam: Employer charged $7500, forced woman into sex work to repay debt
New Zealand

Exploitation scam: Employer charged $7500, forced woman into sex work to repay debt

30 Jun 07:54 AM
'Highly uncertain': MetService chief on Cyclone Gabrielle forecast challenges
New Zealand

'Highly uncertain': MetService chief on Cyclone Gabrielle forecast challenges

30 Jun 07:38 AM
Man busted posting 19 packages containing MDMA, ketamine, 'meow meow'
New Zealand

Man busted posting 19 packages containing MDMA, ketamine, 'meow meow'

30 Jun 07:30 AM

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Rebuild of bridge destroyed by cyclone comes in millions under budget

Rebuild of bridge destroyed by cyclone comes in millions under budget

30 Jun 04:42 AM

The new crossing is higher and longer than the original.

Helping homeless men: New Napier night shelter opens just in time for winter

Helping homeless men: New Napier night shelter opens just in time for winter

30 Jun 04:22 AM
On The Up: Hawke’s Bay Cancer Society opens retreat for free therapy sessions

On The Up: Hawke’s Bay Cancer Society opens retreat for free therapy sessions

30 Jun 02:41 AM
She's moved 14 times since toxic flooding forced her out - now she has a place to call home

She's moved 14 times since toxic flooding forced her out - now she has a place to call home

30 Jun 02:34 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search