100,000 Alabama Power Customers Affected in Southern Company Data Breach

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — 100,000 Alabama Power customers have been affected by a data security incident involving Southern Company, the utility’s parent company, which says an unauthorized third party accessed limited customer account information through its online customer portal.

Southern Company said it recently detected suspicious activity involving the portal and took immediate steps to stop the unauthorized access. The company has also notified law enforcement and launched an investigation.

According to Southern Company, the information accessible through the affected system was limited and may have included customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and other basic account details.

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

Southern Company said approximately 400,000 customers across its service territory were affected by the incident. 100,000 of those customers are Alabama Power customers, which serves approximately 1.6 million customers across Alabama.

The remaining approximately 300,000 affected customers are Georgia Power customers. Georgia Power serves roughly 2.8 million customers in Georgia.

Southern Company said its investigation has not identified evidence of ongoing unauthorized access. The company said it continues to have personnel and technology monitoring its systems around the clock.

Customers who have been identified as affected are being notified directly by U.S. mail and email using information previously provided to the company.

Southern Company is also offering affected customers one year of free credit monitoring through Equifax.

The company said it remains committed to protecting customer information and will continue its investigation into the incident.