Across-the-pond sports betting operation Paddy Power isn’t any complete stranger to finding methods to get its name to the news. From controversial promotions to outrageous ads, the Irish bookmaker is prepared to do almost anything to increase their public profile. But this week, Paddy Power found itself making headlines in a means that definitely ended up beingn’t deliberate.

Paddy Power made the admission that nearly 650,000 customers had their individual information stolen in a web page hack that took place in the past this year. The bookmaker made the admission even as the company was preparing to inform certain customers of the event.

No Financial Information Stolen

The stolen data included basic personal info on each player: names, addresses, times of delivery, and so on. There have been also the answers to the questions that are personal used to verify their identities. Critically, there clearly was no information that is financial as credit card numbers included in the stolen information.

‘We sincerely regret that this breach took place so we apologise to people who have been inconvenienced as being a result,’ said Peter O’Donovan, managing director of Paddy Power’s online operations. ‘We simply take our responsibilities customer that is regarding extremely seriously and have conducted an extensive investigation to the breach and the recovered data. That investigation demonstrates there is not any proof that any client reports have already been adversely impacted by this breach.’

Canadian Police Help With Investigation

The business says that they had been first made aware associated with hack in May of in 2010, whenever they learned that a number of their customer information have been accessed by a Canadian individual. After alerting Irish police to the problem, authorities in Canada assisted in reclaiming the data.

‘The full extent of the 2010 information breach became known towards the Company in recent months when it took action that is legal Canada with the help regarding the Ontario Provincial Police to retrieve the compromised dataset from the in-patient,’ Paddy Power stated in a statement.

Ontario police say that the case against the individual is being managed as a civil matter rather than a criminal action. For that reason, a spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police was unable to expose the identify of the target of their investigation.

According to Paddy Power, a total of 649,055 individuals were impacted by the data theft. The bookmaker claims that they have been monitoring the active accounts on their web site, and that there is no activity that is suspicious would suggest anybody has gained access to these records. However, because the question that is personal had been section of the info stolen, they recommend that customers ‘review other sites where they use the same prompted concern and response as being a security measure and update where appropriate.’

Company Criticized for Slow Reaction

Paddy energy has been criticized in many corners for their slow reaction, as about four years passed away between the breach and the time customers had been made aware that their data was stolen.

‘I am very disappointed it has taken so far for Paddy Power to share with its customers,’ stated Dara Murphy, Ireland’s junior minister for data security.

‘It’s shocking to observe that Paddy Power has waited over four years to see its users of the cyber-attack on the company,’ stated George Anderson of Webroot, a security firm. ‘Waiting four years is not just irresponsible, it’s senseless.’