Electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy warns of data breach after dark web post

Texas-based electric and gas utility CenterPoint Energy told regulators that hackers obtained personal information from its systems during a recent data breach. 

The company filed an 8-K form with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday evening confirming that it became aware of a dark web post this month claiming to offer data stolen from CenterPoint Energy.

CenterPoint Energy said the delivery of electric and gas services has not been impacted by the incident. But an investigation into the claims revealed that hackers did obtain “personal information relating to a portion of the Company’s customers through one of the Company’s external facing systems.”

A spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy declined to answer other questions about the cybercriminal post, which includes claims that about 7.5 million records were stolen and contained customer names, account information, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, billing information and more. 

“The Company is continuing to work with third-party experts to determine the scope of customers and personal information affected by the Incident and intends to notify affected customers and regulatory authorities as required by applicable law,” CenterPoint Energy said. 

The Houston-based company said it reported the incident to law enforcement in addition to the regulatory filing. 

The filing says CenterPoint Energy will incur some costs related to the investigation but the incident is not likely to have a material impact on the company’s finances. 

CenterPoint Energy reported a net income of $244 million in the second quarter and provides power and natural gas to 7 million customers across Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas.

Last year, the company announced that it was investigating another data breach related to a 2023 incident where hackers stole customer information through a popular file sharing platform.