Samsung customers around the world were perplexed recently when a mysterious “1” notification appeared on phones. Within a day, The Register reported about a data breach involving a small group of account holders and linked it to the ‘1’ notification that almost all Galaxy device owners received. Samsung has now admitted to a “small” data breach but says the two events are unrelated.
Samsung told The Register that a technical error led to this incident, allowing a “small number” of users to access the personal details of others. Samsung didn’t specify what data it accidentally revealed, but one Redditor says it includes other users’ order history, the last four digits of their cards, emails, names, phone numbers, and physical addresses.
As a precautionary measure, the company barred its users from logging into their accounts on its UK website until the issue was fixed. In a follow-up statement, Samsung claimed that less than 150 accounts were affected as part of this breach. Those individuals will likely receive a message from Samsung soon.
Initially, reports connected the breach to the recent “1 1” notification that Galaxy device users received en masse through the Find My Mobile app. Samsung reached out to SamMobile to clarify that it’s a coincidence that the breach happened merely days after the widespread Find My Mobile issue. So, Samsung made two separate mistakes rather than one mistake with multiple consequences. That doesn’t exactly make things better.
