On Thursday, October 22, an external attacker gained access to parts of this service, allowing consultation of data from 1,614 Westerlo documents. These include certificates, letters, and decisions. The attacker could view information such as document titles, names and roles of signatories and approvers, and names and email addresses of recipients. It remains unclear whether the attacker could also view the content of these documents; the investigation is ongoing.
As a precaution, the municipality is asking residents to be extra vigilant for suspicious emails, SMS messages, phone calls, and payment requests. It is advised not to respond, click, or pay if in doubt. Specific advice includes: do not click on links in unexpected messages, do not share personal data, passwords, or codes, carefully check unexpected payment requests and do not pay if in doubt. Increased alertness is requested for unexpected contact regarding a letter, decision, or other document from the municipality or OCMW Westerlo.
If there is doubt about the authenticity of a message from the municipality of Westerlo, it is recommended to contact the municipality directly, without using the contact details or links from the suspicious message.
Westerlo has reported the data leak to the Flemish Supervisory Commission for the processing of personal data, the competent supervisory authority, and is monitoring the situation. Users and signatories of the affected application will be informed directly.
For questions about the security incident or if you doubt a message received, you can contact the municipality's ICT department.
