Data Breach Hits 400,000 Southern Company Accounts

Southern Company is notifying roughly 400,000 customers that an unauthorized third party accessed limited account information through its online customer portal.

The Atlanta-based energy holding company operates Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power. About 300,000 affected accounts belong to Georgia Power customers, while about 100,000 are Alabama Power accounts. Alabama Power has about 1.6 million accounts. Mississippi Power was also listed in Southern Company’s public notice, but no number was provided for its affected customers.

The information may include customers’ names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and other basic account details. Bank account numbers, payment card numbers and driver’s license numbers were not accessed, according to the company’s notice.

Southern Company has not disclosed when the unauthorized access occurred or how the third party entered the portal. After detecting the activity, the company stopped the access and contacted law enforcement, according to a statement provided by the company.

Affected customers are being notified by mail and email. Southern Company is offering one year of free credit monitoring.

Southern Company serves more than 9 million customers through its electric and natural gas businesses. Its electric utilities operate in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, while its natural gas businesses serve customers in four states.