Alabama Power says 100,000 customers affected by data breach

MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — Alabama Power says about 100,000 of its customers were affected after an unauthorized third party accessed limited customer information through Southern Company’s online customer portal.

Southern Company said approximately 400,000 customer accounts were affected overall. That includes about 300,000 Georgia Power customers and about 100,000 Alabama Power customers.

Alabama Power serves about 1.6 million customers. The company said the breach affected information connected to roughly 6% of its customer base.

According to Southern Company, the exposed information may include customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers—or tax identification numbers for business customers—and other basic account details.

The company said bank account numbers, payment card numbers and driver’s license numbers were not included.

Southern Company said it recently detected suspicious activity involving the online customer portal and took immediate action to stop it. The company said it has notified law enforcement and has not found evidence of continuing unauthorized access.

Affected customers are being notified and offered one year of free credit monitoring and identity-theft restoration services.

Customers who receive a notice can verify information by going directly to Alabama Power’s website or calling the company, rather than clicking links in an unexpected email.