London Hydro investigates data breach potentially exposing customer account information

London Hydro, a local distribution company serving the City of London, Ontario, is investigating a data security incident that may have exposed personal and account information belonging to some of its customers. The utility announced on June 20 that hackers had broken into its systems and that customer data was likely accessed, and the company has begun notifying affected customers.

London Hydro serves roughly 170,000 residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial customers, though it has also been described as distributing electricity to more than 160,000 customers in and around London, Ontario. The company said the incident "may have impacted a portion of personal information on some accounts."

According to London Hydro, the potentially exposed information includes names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers, along with account-related details such as account and billing numbers, service addresses, pricing plans, contract dates, and meter numbers and types.

The company said the breach did not involve financial or other sensitive information. "The incident did not involve access to financial information or other sensitive categories of information, such as your date of birth, government identification numbers, payment card details, or banking information," London Hydro said.

London Hydro is urging customers to remain alert for suspicious activity tied to their accounts and personal information, including phishing messages, emails, or phone calls. The company has also reminded customers that it does not request banking details by email, phone, or text message, and has advised them to watch for unexpected bills, unfamiliar account activity, or requests to change payment arrangements.

The company has disclosed little beyond the categories of customer information potentially involved. Its public statement contains no indication of whether operational technology or grid systems were affected, and London Hydro has not explained what systems were compromised, how the incident occurred, whether data was stolen or merely accessed, or how many customers may have been affected.

It remains unclear who is responsible for the attack. No known cybercrime group has taken credit for hacking London Hydro.