Nobody seems to be exempt from suffering a security breach, neither individuals nor large companies. In this case, we have become aware of unauthorized access suffered by Movistar (and also O2). The operator, in an honorable exercise of transparency, is going to send a statement to all its customers who may have been affected. Among other things, in that statement users will be asked to change the WiFi password to avoid possible problems.
Informational emails will start going out in a few minutes, although we have had access to the content that will be communicated to customers. Go ahead that no sensitive personal data has been leaked. Despite this, Movistar (and also O2) is apologizing to customers for the inconvenience caused and even offers a direct form of contact through its Data Protection Officer.
The data does not allow your direct identification
Going into the matter, we know that the Movistar security team has detected unauthorized access “to the technical or configuration data of some equipment that provides the services associated with the landline number (router, TV decoder, Wi-Fi amplifier , etc.)”.
The operator clearly indicates that these technical or configuration data do not allow direct identification . This is because they are data such as the unique identifier of the device (the MAC) and details of the manufacturer of the equipment, configuration of the connection ports, name of the Wi-Fi network and its password.
Movistar has already taken the necessary measures so that this does not happen again. In addition, they confirm that no sensitive personal data has been leaked, such as (name and surname, postal address, billing information, bank account or call details, among others).
For our peace of mind, stolen data cannot be exploited remotely . The attacker would need to be physically connected to our network in order to use them. Therefore, both Movistar and O2 are recommending that customers change the WiFi password to improve network security and prevent unwanted access. This can be done very easily and the operator leaves us all the steps at https://www.movistar.es/claverouter .
Basically, we will have to access the Alejandra Portal , log in to the private area of Mi Movistar, access “WiFi / Password” and “WiFi Plus / Password” or only “WiFi / Password”, depending on the router and enter the new password alphanumeric of at least 8 characters. Then it will only be necessary to save the changes.
In the case of O2, Telefónica’s second brand in Spain, it tells us that we must follow these steps exactly, although they also work for Movistar if we do not want to use the Alejandra Portal:
- Check that you have an Internet connection by WiFi or via cable from the router to a computer.
- If you have an HGU router, at the bottom you will find a sticker where you can see an http address and a password on a barcode. You must enter this address in your browser and access with the indicated password.
- Go to Menu > Change router password.
- Choose a strong password that you can remember by following the guidelines that appear during the process.
- From now on, your new password will be the one you have chosen .
