MTN Group, Africa’s leading mobile network operator, announced on Thursday that it experienced a cybersecurity breach affecting customer data in select markets. However, the company assured that its core infrastructure, including network systems, billing platforms, and financial services, remains secure and fully operational. According to a statement posted on MTN’s official website, an unidentified third party claimed to have accessed segments of its system. While the full extent of the breach is still being assessed, the company emphasized that there is no evidence that customer accounts or digital wallets were directly impacted.
“No evidence of compromise to any of our critical infrastructure, core MTN platforms, or services,” MTN stated, adding that its “core network, billing systems, and financial services infrastructure remain secure and fully operational.”
The Johannesburg-headquartered company, which serves over 280 million users across 19 countries, has reported the incident to the South African Police Service and the Hawks, a specialist crime-fighting unit. MTN is also working closely with authorities in the affected markets and is informing customers in compliance with local regulations.
“We have informed the relevant country authorities and will continue to update them on an ongoing basis while working closely with them and law enforcement agencies to support their investigations,” the company noted.
In response to the incident, MTN is advising affected customers to take precautionary measures to protect their data. These include placing fraud alerts on credit files, keeping apps updated, using strong and unique passwords, and being cautious with unsolicited messages containing suspicious links.
Customers are also urged not to share sensitive information, such as passwords, PINs, or one-time passcodes via phone, text, or email. Where possible, MTN recommends enabling multi-factor authentication for additional protection.
