17 kwi 2019

PeopleCert Announcement

PeopleCert has established that some parts of its contact database have been accessed by an unauthorised third party.

The confirmed data that has been accessed includes only names, email addresses and countries of location. PeopleCert does not store any candidate credit / debit card or bank account details anywhere on its systems.

In line with our security processes, we have reported this incident to the relevant Cyber Crime and Data Protection Authorities and an investigation is ongoing.

PeopleCert takes the security and protection of our customer information very seriously. We are further enhancing our security processes and will continue to do so in light of this incident.

We would like to apologise for any inconvenience or concern this incident may have caused.

Should you have any further questions, please contact Help & Support.

What happened exactly?

PeopleCert was recently alerted to a security breach, involving unauthorised access to customer information including name, email address and country of residence. PeopleCert was also made aware that some examination papers may have been illegally obtained.

How serious is this? Has any sensitive personal information leaked?

Our investigation indicates that names, surnames, email addresses and countries of residence have been obtained illegally. At this stage we have no evidence suggesting payment information (such as credit/debit card numbers), passwords, ID document numbers or residential addresses have been compromised.

What do customers need to do?

The confirmed data breach does not include PeopleCert Account passwords or payment details, therefore customers do not need to take action at this time. However, customers are encouraged to exercise caution when receiving suspicious emails from unknown sources, or from sources claiming to be legitimate (such as phishing emails, scams, etc.) when in fact they are not.

Is customer data safe with PeopleCert? What steps is PeopleCert taking to avoid such instances in the future?

PeopleCert adheres to some of the most rigid quality standards in the industry and is certified by Lloyds Register UK according to the following standards:

ISO 9001 Quality Management
ISO 10002 Customer Satisfaction & Complaints Handling
ISO 14001 Environmental Management
ISO 27001 Information Security
ISO 23988 Use of IT in the Delivery of Assessments
ISO 22301 Business Continuity

PeopleCert will continue to strengthen its internal procedures, policies and technologies in order to minimise the risk of such instances in the future.