123 Reg says suspected AI-driven attack exposed customer details

UK domain registrar 123 Reg says an intrusion on 18 September exposed customer data in what it describes as its first known AI-driven cyberattack. The company suspects a China-linked actor may be responsible, but has not confirmed who carried it out; the incident matters because attackers may have copied information that could be used in scams.

The exposed data includes customers’ names, phone numbers, countries, language and currency preferences, account creation dates, products, marketing preferences, company VAT numbers and related account information. 123 Reg says the attackers’ activity was limited to reading data, though copies may have been made. It reported the incident to law enforcement and regulators, brought in external security specialists, and advised customers to be wary of messages claiming to be from the company and to enable two-step verification.